by Bill Shaner, News Staff

Gnomon Copy, a main vendor for academic-related printing in the Northeastern community, went out of business Friday.

Steven Theiss, the owner of the Huntington Avenue copy shop, closed it Friday afternoon after declaring bankruptcy, said the shop’s operations manager, James Coy. Friday afternoon was the first notice employees were given of the shop’s closing.

Theiss could not be reached for comment, but Coy said although he wasn’t sure exactly why the shop closed so suddenly, the Internet and economy have damaged the printing industry in general.

Earth and Environmental Science Professor Richard Bailey said he used the shop for years and its service has been reliable.

“It’s been good over the decades,” he said. “I’ve used them for close to 20 years. I use them for all of my classes and a lot of people in my department have used them. I’ve always liked them because they were extremely convenient for me and the students and the prices were reasonable.”

He said, now, with Gnomon Copy closed, he will use the university service Northeastern University Reprographics or upload his lecture packets to Blackboard.
Some students were apathetic to the store’s closing.

“No one goes there … people just go for class packets, and those will end up getting sent somewhere else, anyway, hopefully the bookstore,” said sophomore Tom Donovan, whose major is undeclared. “That’s closer.”

However, Elise Zimmerman, a freshman mechanical engineering major, was surprised Gnomon Copy is closing.

“That’s so soon,” she said. “I know a lot of teachers depend on that place to make their own packets for their classes.”

James Coy and four other former employees have formed an online printing company of their own called Bluisma. The company also serves as a consulting, event planning, photography and audio production service, among others.

“We’re a little crew but we’ve got a lot to offer for pretty much anyone,” he said.

Other members of Bluisma could not be reached for comment.

Gnomon Copy has many branches in and around the Boston area, including Cambridge and Somerville. Each branch is independently owned and funded.

Mathematics Professor Carla Oblas said she was upset the shop closed.

“I can say I will miss Gnomon Copy,” she said in an e-mail to The News. “They were very reliable and competent. I guess I will have to use the NU bookstore.”

– News Staff Lauren DiTullio
contributed to this report.