Last December things were looking uncertain for Bank Street Bookstore, long one of New York City’s preeminent children’s bookstores.
But that’s about to change with today’s announcement that the board of trustees of Bank Street College of Education, of which the bookstore is a part, approved the lease for a new location on the Upper West Side at West 107th St. and Broadway. The store is currently located at West 112th St. and Broadway. A grand opening is slated for February 2015.
The college’s trustees had been supportive of the bookstore, but were looking for a way to stem the store’s losses over the past several years. The new location will be smaller (2,200 sq. ft.), and the store will be on a single floor. "The rent is significantly less than at the current space, which we believe will enable us to operate sustainably," store manager Andy Laties pointed out. He added that the renovation of the new space is not without its own costs.
“The fact is, [the bookstore] is too important to the college’s mission to let it disappear,” commented Bank Street president Shael Polakow-Suransky. “The bookstore is a key part of our commitment to high-quality children’s literature, and to reading as a fundamental component to lifelong learning.”
Bank Street is planning to run a series of sales leading up to the close of its current location. It is also launching a Friends of Bank Street Bookstore membership program.
The children’s bookstore isn’t the only bookstore to open on the Upper West Side. Book Culture is readying its third store to open in November at the site of the former Endicott Booksellers.
