By George P. Hassett

Women’s history sat in a box, stacked on top of French history. Mystery had been gutted and Journalism was at the bottom.

On Saturday, McIntyre and Moore Booksellers last day in Somerville, most of the store’s books were packaged, boxed and piled on top of one another, ready to be moved out of Davis Square to new digs in Cambridge.

After a decade as a center of Davis Square literature and discussion, the store was forced to move to a smaller space (and cheaper rent) this week after serious declines in business the past three years. Owner Dan Moore said the store has experienced a 25 percent drop the last three years and he could see the end coming.

‚ÄúBusiness is down for all used bookstores,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúIt’s a societal change. People can go on the Internet and buy the book they’re looking for online. They’re less likely to go in a bookstore and browse.‚Äù He said he began preparing for a move a year ago.

The move leaves just one bookstore left in the city: Three Geese In Flight Books on Elm Street.

It also signals the end of talking truth in Somerville as the store’s most popular in-store event, the Philosophy Caf√©, will be moving to Harvard Bookstore. The discussion group, which attracted a wide, diverse group of participants from local colleges and right off the street, gathered once a month to tackle questions such as ‚ÄúWhat Kind of Creatures Should We Become?‚Äù and ‚ÄúWhat’s So Great About Truth?‚Äù

“Losing the Philosophy Café is one of the unfortunate things [about the move],” said Moore who founded the store with Mike McIntyre in Harvard Square in 1983 and moved it to Davis Square in 1998. “[The Philosophy Café] is just going to be one more thing happening in Harvard Square. But in this neighborhood now those discussions might not happen.”

McIntyre and Moore is following three other Davis Square landmarks out of the neighborhood in less than two years.

The Italian pastry shop La Contessa, the hipster hangout Someday Caf√© and Jimmy Tingle’s Off-Broadway Theatre all brought unique crowds and services to the neighborhood and, in the last two years, all closed. They were replaced by a yet-to-open sushi restaurant, a crepe restaurant and, in the case of Tingle’s, an empty space.

In the 10 years the store was in Davis Square, Moore said its strongest sellers were classical Greek and advanced math textbooks. He admitted the fiction section was weak. And the mystery stock had some notable absences (no Chandler, Hammett or Cain). However, Moore said, the old store on Elm Street had its charm and its hidden treasures.

‚ÄúLike any used bookstore, I think we had that special quirky something in the aisles,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúYou could always come up on something you didn’t expect to find here.‚Äù

Moore said the store will reopen at 1971 Massachusetts Avenue in Porter Square next week.