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Almost exactly a year after debuting at 2736 Broadway near 105th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, beloved bookstore Shakespeare & Co. will shut down the location by the end of April.
West Side Rag, the first to report the news, attributes the decision to close to harsh economic realities.
"It was a really great landlord, a wonderful community," Dane Neller, one of the shop's owners, told the outlet. "Love the neighborhood, love the customers. We just weren't able to get to the sales level we needed to make the store sustainable."
The staff put up a store closing announcement on the shop's window earlier this weekend, expressing gratitude for the support received by the community throughout the months in operation.
"It has been a pleasure serving this wonderful neighborhood," the note reads, adding that the bookstore will continue selling tomes at its Lincoln Center location on Broadway between 68th and 69th Streets.
Shakespeare & Co. also boasts another store at 939 Lexington Avenue near 69th Street on the Upper East Side but, according to Neller, that location will also shut down once its lease ends.
It is, indeed, the end of an era. Shakespeare & Co. debuted its first ever address on the Upper West Side back in 1983 but was forced to shutter years later following the advent of Amazon and a nearby Barnes & Noble. The business eventually made a comeback, partly thanks to the cafes it opened in-store, but seems to be entering a slump caused by financial-related issues at the moment.
Here's to hoping that the last-standing bookstore will not go anywhere any time soon.