By Carol Tannenhauser
It opened almost exactly a year ago this week in March 2024, and now Shakespeare & Co. on Broadway and West 105th Street is preparing to shutter, West Side Rag has learned. The tentative closing date is sometime toward the end of April, according to a store employee.
“I’m sure there are reasons, but management hasn’t shared them with the staff,” Sabrina, a bookseller at the store, told the Rag. “All we know is that we are closing and so is the store on Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side. As far as we know, the Lincoln Center store is staying open.”
“We’re all really bummed,” Sabrina continued. “We really liked being up in this neighborhood and the neighborhood seemed to like us.” As for her future, “We all know we’re going to be looking for new employment,” she said.
Watch for more on this important closing tomorrow in Monday’s Rag.
Thanks to Sharon and Maggie for the tip.
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they should have had a cafe, like the Lincoln center one.
the neighborhood needs a cozy- booky-laptop-friendly spot. too bad.
Does every bookstore really need a cafe?
I would say it helps if it generates revenue.
But the flip side is people who read the store’s books in the cafe without purchasing the book.
If a bookstore is treated like a library, it will close down.
No, but it’s nice when they make clients feel welcome and cafés are an “easy” way to do it.
Ugh! So sad! This is just what the UWS was lacking up here. Another vacant building back in the block…
This is the saddest story we heard today! Really like having this bookstore in our neighborhood.
Outrageous, they JUST opened. What gives?
They had no customers. You can’t pay the rent if you have no sales.
Deciding to close it before even one year has passed? There has got to be more to this than what meets the eye.
Predicted this soon as they opened. Of course the neighborhood likes you. You are one of the only nice small shops north of W86 st. Stuck out (in a good way) like a sore thumb, But liking you doesn’t pay the rent. I tried to purchase something every time I went in but rarely saw anyone buying anything there. Just browsing and reading through the books for free. Wrong neighborhood to be in. No wonder.
Never made any sense for a quality book operation on 105th
Please elaborate on “the wrong neighborhood “quote sounds very racist to me
I didn’t write that comment but if a store can’t stay open for a year something is wrong. No readers in the neighborhood? Little foot traggic? Rents too high? I’m sure Shakespeare & Co would sell books to people of any race. Yet the store couldn’t survive. Saying this isn’t racist.
Bookstore has to be closer to Columbia above 110th.
Like Book Culture at 112th?
It sounds like the UES, right across from Hunter College is also the wrong neighborhood to be in. And that one has been there a long time.
That location functions as Hunter College’s bookstore for students and also sells art supplies.
Not just Hunter – also NYSID and I think a couple of other schools.
That is a troubled block. The bookstore owners had to be aware of it. It’s a mess.
I went in there once and bought a book. It is a very small store. There were 3 women working there who were talking when I came in. I was the only customer. The whole time I was there, I was being watched with extreme suspicion. I am a very ordinary looking person. I bought my book and did not go back.
No surprise. They have no clue about how to be a neighborhood shop. Whenever I went in, nobody ever said hello or asked if I needed help. Whenever I left without buying anything, nobody ever asked if I’d been looking for something in particular. The staff was always too preoccupied with chatting among themselves to pay attention to the customers. My neighbors tell me they had the same experience.
That was never my experience, and I was in there quite often. In fact, I recently had to ask for help in finding two books that I could not find on the shelves, and the salesperson could not have been more helpful and friendly. And then, two hours later, when I had to return one book because the person I had bought it for will only read books on Kindle, the same salesperson helped me arrange for a credit, as pleasant and helpful as before. (And perhaps my experience is a clue–so many people won’t read an actual book anymore–would prefer audiobooks or ebooks.) I encourage everyone to continue to support the few brick-and-mortars we still have–and if buying online, go to bookshop.org (which benefits independent bookstores) instead of Amazon.
Hmm, my experience, too.
That block is nuts. Between the grifters selling junk on the sidewalk, mcdonalds, the empty storefront, the permanent sidewalk shed and vacant unkept storefront the list goes on and on. I thought being a corner shop across the bakery it would do well. What a bummer!
Those “grifters” have been there for years, Tony and everyone have been here a lot longer than you and deserve more dignity than that. We can grieve the loss of a store without disparaging members of our community.
Totally disagree. They are not nice people. I avoid that block when I can. This type of behavior should not be normalized, They do nothing positive. Sorry.
You’ve got to be kidding me joking. The block is awful. Can see a drug dispensary being successful, not a bookstore
I’m with you. I have advised my wife to avoid the east side of Broadway and to never enter McDonald’s alone at night. That block is horrible and the “regulars” need to up their games. Look how much better it gets above 108
Please don’t normalize illegal street vendors.
It hurts us all.
If you’re not familiar with the book sellers of Broadway, then you haven’t been a part of the community for very long. Show some respect when the elders of this community are speaking to you.
No disrespect meant.
Are these booksellers licensed vendors ?
Do they pay taxes ?
Are they receiving stolen/shoplifted books and selling them ?
How much of Shakespeare’s merchandise winded up there ?
Are some of the books stolen from the library ?
You would be shocked at how much stuff, especially books, New Yorkers discard! I used to find books put outside by editors and others, and I used to haul them to the library when they have their book sales. Back in the 1980s and 90s, my own building staff would call me downstairs to haul stuff to the library because the building residents discarded so much stuff. We had a Chinese scholar in my building whose wife refused to let him take his books and records with him when they moved. I called the Chinese History Museum (now called something else) and they came down and took what they wanted. I donated the rest to someplace else. My other neighbors died and their kids threw out big coffee table art books, which I hauled into my studio. Street vendors get their stuff this way. No one has to steal books (fat chance!). They steal high end needed goods and drugs from Duane Reade, but only readers steal books! Mostly, you can’t give books away. You are dreaming if you think anyone stole from this store. They are closing because no one wants retail priced soft bounds, which have NO resale value. Why pay $30 for a book you can get second hand online for $1. Only hardbacks in perfect condition have resale value, and only antiquarian or autographed ones. The dust jacket has to be in good to mint condition, too. I lost thousands of books and records in the water main break on Broadway in 2020. Call and see how many thrift shops don’t even want books.
I’ve been reading your comments for weeks, it seems like you approach anyone who isn’t white, middle class, and conservative with a high level of implicit bias. You are not engaging your community if you can’t answer these questions for yourself. Making token “others” out of everyone who lives differently from you and your subjective values is pretty despicable and as you can see, New Yorker’s don’t take too kindly to that kind of attitude. I can imagine you don’t get very far on the street with that attitude so I don’t need to bring that point home any further, but watch how you talk about beloved people in our community behind their backs.
That’s too bad. It was great to have in the neighborhood and really livened things up. Hopefully something fun/interesting can move in. Come on, little block, I know you can do it. I still believe in you.
This is so sad. W92nd to w110th is a ghost town and needs help.
That’s not true. That block on the east side is troubled, but the next block up is great w/ Silvermoon, Mama’s Too (newly expanded) and the just opened Mediterranean tapas/wine bar. You have the Ellington, Smoke, etc right across the street.
92-104 has some challenges, but 105th – 125th on Broadway is a different story.
No! This store is an asset to the neighborhood. Hoped it was a harbinger of more local shops moving to the area.
There are 3 other bookstores in the neighborhood: Book Culture on 112th – with events and helpful staff, Book Culture at 114 with kids section downstairs, and Columbia/B&N. Not all that surprising this store couldn’t make a go of it.
Bank Street Books, and Morningside Hts. branch of NYPL….
105th is nowhere near Columbia
Yes it is. It’s a quick walk
It’s less than 10 blocks from Columbia U and many students live even closer!!
That is why it closed. Has to be near a school.
The one across from. Hunter is closing too? If they have survived this long, why close now?
I work on the UES and have shopped at the Hunter location for years. There always seems to be a crowd, plus they have a cafe. I overheard someone complaining about second generation owners and no customer service. So sad that 2 locations are closing. : (
I live close by and almost never saw people inside whenever I walked by. As a compulsive reader, I didn’t find their selection particularly appealing–mostly new releases, very little back catalog, and lots of the little knacks that we all know are big sellers (tote bags, bookmarks etc) but nothing you can’t find in any other store. Both Strand and Book Culture offer more variety in the book and knack sections. It’s a shame,b because the area could really use a vibrant spot, but with little to no chairs to sit and lighting and shelves that felt more like a generic bookstore than a neighborhood store, it became a hard pass for me.
Maybe someone will open a CD and vinyl album store.
Or maybe a blacksmith.
Vinyl has made a huge comeback.
The internet has not replaced books.
But it’s sure kickin’ the hell outta bookstores.
I live 1 block away and absolutely loved this bookstore. I was so excited when they opened, and have gone in many times on a weekend when I needed something to bring me a bit of joy. It’s so sad that they are closing. It was wonderful having such a beautiful little bookstore so close by.
That’s sad. They helped cement the idea of independent bookstores having a chance.
Whatever their reasons for closing — location, rent, selection, management issues, all of the above — it’s always sad to lose a bookstore.
That’s a pity. I admit I’ve only been in once, and it was not a particularly inviting experience. The two sales staff members seemed so preoccupied that I wondered if something had happened in one of their lives. I browsed a bit and bought a book mostly to support the neighborhood (and because I adore bookstores and rarely leave one without buying something), but I did not feel like going out of my way to go back in. The distance is the same for me as going to the Strand, and I will go out of my way to stop at the latter, where there is helpful staff, welcoming atmosphere, and decent selection. Maybe my one-time experience isn’t a fair assessment, maybe it was representative of the store (given some other comments). Nonetheless, I’m sorry to lose a bookstore in the neighborhood. It is always preferable to another bank or dispensary …
I remember when they were further south on Broadway.
Very sad! But I think it wasn’t a good idea to open a book shop relatively close to the beloved and long-established Book Culture shops on 112th and 114th street.
I feel that they just opened….I think books are hard to sell..they are not cheap and too many options to read and everyone is on their cell phone…who has time to read? I am sorry to see this close
Maybe make time to read?
One of the great joys of life
Honestly with two Book Culture locations walking distance that have a much more robust inventory, I’m not surprised. But I did stop there often.
Not terribly surprising if bittersweet…
How to / why compete with Book Culture?
I’m a big backer of independent bookstores but S&co offers little to distinguish itself as anything other than a smaller version of a Barnes & Noble. Even its window displays are unimpressive and unimaginative. A harsh assessment, I know, but that was a lame and lazy effort from Day 1.