Movings and Closings

The New Yorker writes about Farrar, Straus & Giroux's impending move to new quarters on 18 West 18th Street:

Joy Isenberg, who has worked at Farrar, Straus & Giroux for thirty-eight years, says that one of the things she is most looking forward to when the company moves this week out of its storied offices, at 19 Union Square West, is the prospect of hot running water in the ladies’ room. “You had to put your own hot-water tank in, and that was not something that was in the F.S.G. budget,” Isenberg, who is a senior vice-president and director of operations at the company, explained the other day. “The money went into the books, not into painting the walls.” Elaine Kramer, the company’s longest-serving employee, who was hired in the accounts department in 1952, said that, while the employees were happy about the prospect of improved amenities—there will be a pantry, so for the first time coffee will be made in-house, rather than brought in—many of the writers, over the years, had been attached to the house’s primitive living conditions. “Isaac Singer—he liked it that way,” Kramer said.

Yes but, how shall I put it this way - Singer died seventeen years ago. A lot has changed since then, and the lack of running hot water isn't exactly charming, you know?

Unfortunately, High Crimes Mystery Bookshop in Boulder won't get the benefit of a move as it's shutting its doors on March 15:

The decision did not come easy to Cynthia Nye, who started High Crimes in 2000 after purchasing its predecessor and her former employer, Rue Morgue.

"I think it's been slowly building over the last six months," she said.

In the uncertain economic times, foot traffic has diminished and customers seem to be buying fewer books, she said. And in a business where many independent bookstores operate close to the bone, High Crimes just couldn't withstand the drops, she said.

"You get two or three bad months and that's all you can take," she said.

Similar bad news awaits Dutton's in Brentwood, which will close on April 30. Owner Doug Dutton sent out a statement about the move, which comes less than a year after the Beverly Hills store closed:

As our regular customers and friends well know, the past year for the store has been one of upheaval and turmoil. Hard on the heels of the closure of the Dutton’s Beverly Hills location came word that the Brentwood property had changed ownership, and the new owner, Charles T. Munger, announced plans to redevelop the property. The multiple uncertainties of the bookstore’s future, combined with the encumbrances associated with the closure of the Beverly Hills store have crippled the store’s ability to provide the kind of immediate service and depth of inventory that our customers have come to rightly expect. It is no secret that the store today is a shadow of its former self.

There is a possibility of new quarters, but Dutton says that option won't be explored for a while yet.

Comments

[Patrick Balester]

It always saddens me to read about another small independent bookstore closing. I have another closing tale to relate, although I don't know how many of your readers have heard of this one.

The Tudor Bookshop in Kingston, Pennsylvania, is closing its doors. For thirty-two years it offered personal service and attention to its patrons in the tiny town where I grew up (population 15,000).

[PAUL LEVINE]

The closing of Dutton's leaves a huge gap in the literary heart of Los Angeles. With its tinsel image, L.A. is often under-appreciated in the book world. In truth, the area has some of the best literary events in the country, including the Los Angeles Times Festival. But the Dutton's closing really hurts. Ouch.