Last August, when the beloved New York City bookstore Shakespeare & Co. closed its downtown location, some worried that the store's Lexington Avenue location on Manhattan’s Upper East side would be next. Instead, the uptown Shakespeare & Co. is holding a 40% off renovation sale as it gets ready to add a café and restroom. The store will also install an Espresso Book Machine.
The addition of coffee, snacks, and print-on-demand seems only natural, given that the space is now under the ownership of a holding company formed by On Demand Books CEO Dane Neller. The holding company, which is not connected with ODB, purchased the Shakespeare & Co. trademark.
Neller, for his part, is no stranger to retailing, either; he spent more than eight years as president and CEO of Dean & Deluca.
Renovations are slated to begin June 15, and are planned to be completed in mid to late August. The store will remain open during the construction, but will have a smaller footprint until the work is complete. The revamped Shakespeare & Co. will continue to carry an eclectic blend of trade books and to provide textbooks for Hunter College and Marymount Manhattan College.
A grand opening at the uptown Shakespeare & Co. is planned for after Labor Day.
