Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore was burned to the ground in a Minneapolis riot, now fans are raising money to rebuild it
"Uncle Hugo's and Uncle Edgar's" by Zach K is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Science fiction lovers know that sometimes, just the right book can be hard to come by. Which is why Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction bookstore in Minneapolis was treasured by readers not only in the Minneapolis area but all over.
Sadly, Uncle Hugo’s is no more. The bookstore, along with its mystery bookstore neighbor, Uncle Edgar’s, was irreparably damaged in a riot on May 30th. They lost all of the store’s stock and the building was burned to the ground. Now, a GoFundMe campaign is aiming to recoup some of their losses and keep the business going.
The campaign was started by a well-meaning Uncle Hugo’s fan, and has since been turned over to owner Don Blyly’s son, Sam Blyly-Strauss. From the GoFundMe campaign page: “Uncle Hugo's is one of the shining landmarks of science fiction & fantasy literature. It is part bookstore and part archival museum for written science fiction and fantasy books. It is located with its fellow Uncle (Uncle Edgar devoted to mystery) all under one roof in Minneapolis. Its owner Don Blyly started it in 1974 and has become renowned for its selection of rare and hard to find books in pop culture. [...] Let us rebuild our monument to our passion both for a man that has given so much to the community over the years and our community.”
As of yesterday, the campaign has raised over $115,000, and Blyly-Strauss said that his father is already getting set up with his new (hopefully interim) business model. “Within the next 7-10 days,” he said, “[Don] will be set up to run mail-orders from home and will start selling Uncle Hugo's / Uncle Edgar's T-shirts and sweatshirts that were on-order before the fire.” Plans for rebuilding the physical store are still uncertain.
For more information about Uncle Hugo’s, including updates on their story, and links to their Facebook page and the GoFundMe, visit unclehugo.com.
