A beloved Brooklyn bookstore will close next month; a new store preps for an opening in California, while one in Massachusetts opts to begin selling online first; an election-winner closes her bookstore to take office; and more.
BookCourt Will Close Next Month: The Cobble Hill, Brooklyn–based BookCourt, a beloved neighborhood fixture, will close next month. Author Emma Straub has announced that she has secured initial funding for a new store in the neighborhood. "A neighborhood without an independent bookstore is a body without a heart," she wrote. "And so we’re building a new heart."
Third B&N Concept Store to Open Next Week: Barnes & Noble is moving forward with its concept stores and held a preview of its first one on the West Coast, which is slated to open in Sacramento, Calif., at Folsom’s Palladio on December 13. When asked if the company is worried about customers spending hours there without buying anything, David Deason, v-p of development for B&N, replied, “We’re not fearful of it. We encourage it.”
Albuquerque B&N Opens After November Fire: The bookstore in Coronado Mall reopened on December 4 after closing when a fire damaged the building on November 26. Some customers interviewed said that they could still smell smoke, but continued to shop.
Belmont Books Opens Online: At the suggestion of a stranger, Kathy Crowley and Chris Abouzeid opened an online bookstore while they continue to ready their bricks-and-mortar location in Belmont, Mass., for a March 1 opening.
Conspiracy Theory Threatens DC’s Politics & Prose: A fake news story that Hillary Clinton is running a child sex ring out of Comet Ping Pong, a Washington, DC, pizzeria near the bookstore, led 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch to fire warning shots there on Sunday. Bookstore owners Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine told Fox46 that it and other businesses on the block have received threats and menacing phone calls in recent weeks. Until the shooting, the police have been uninterested in investigating the businesses' concerns.
City Commissioner-Elect Will Close Reading Frenzy, For Now: Chloe Eudaly will close the bookstore she opened 21 years ago in order to take a seat on the Portland (Oregon) City Council. Commissioners are not allowed to own a business. “It’s been a good run, Portland,” Eudaly wrote. “And who knows what the future may hold for Reading Frenzy, but for the time being the shop is going on hiatus effective 1/1/17.”
Binghamton’s RiverRead Books to Close in January: Declining sales due to discounting by Amazon have forced Constance Barnes and Pat Day to close the bookstore next month. A holiday/going-out-of-business sale has begun with all hardcovers marked down 30% and merchandise discounted 20%. Barnes said that the store will hold a farewell reception after the holidays.
