Famous US bookstore close doors
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 03, 2009 00:00
NEW YORK - America's most famous French bookstore will close its doors this year after 73 years in business, unable to bear a staggering rent increase in New York's Rockefeller Center.
Outside the Librairie de France, hordes of tourists take pictures of the Center, its ice-skating rink and tree, but inside one of the first retail tenants, the shelves are slowly emptied of books.
The reason for closing this venerable institution located at one of America's most cherished retail addresses is a simple, albeit familiar one: the rent, which is due in September, is rising, from 360,000 dollars to a million dollars per year.
Online book sales at bargain prices and declining interest in foreign-language books have also affected the landmark Fifth Avenue business.
And in another sign of the times, most shoppers these days come to the area in search of clothes, cosmetics or electronics.
"Of course, we sell for 20 dollars a book that costs five euros (seven dollars) in Paris, but there are also shipping fees for online orders," says Emmanuel Molho, who manages the family-run bookstore with his two children.
"No, what changed is the whole bookstore culture and the Rockefeller Center has become no more than just a commercial center."
The reason for closing this venerable institution located at one of America's most cherished retail addresses is a simple, albeit familiar one: the rent, which is due in September, is rising, from 360,000 dollars to a million dollars per year.
Online book sales at bargain prices and declining interest in foreign-language books have also affected the landmark Fifth Avenue business.
And in another sign of the times, most shoppers these days come to the area in search of clothes, cosmetics or electronics.
"Of course, we sell for 20 dollars a book that costs five euros (seven dollars) in Paris, but there are also shipping fees for online orders," says Emmanuel Molho, who manages the family-run bookstore with his two children.
"No, what changed is the whole bookstore culture and the Rockefeller Center has become no more than just a commercial center."