Sad news for those of us who still buys books printed on paper. The east side location of Frugal Muse will close in November.
Bowing to increased pressure from online book sellers and a steady drop in foot traffic, Frugal Muse will close its longtime East Side store in Madison when its lease at Northgate Shopping Center ends in November.
“I want to thank all the customers on the northeast side for our 16 years in business,” Andrew Gaylor, one of the small independent chain’s four owners, said Monday. “We really are grateful. That’s a good run.”
Founded in 1994 with a store on Mineral Point Road and D’Onofrio Drive, Frugal Muse still operates a Far West Side store — located since October 2009 at 231 Junction Road — and one in Darien, Ill.
Gaylor said he and the other owners plan to sell the Darien store to its current manager, Paul Garrison. The west Madison store has a lease through 2019 at the Prairie Towne Center, where it shares the former CompUSA building with Fontana Sports.
“We have every intention of honoring that lease,” Gaylor said, adding the business also has a “healthy Internet presence” that will continue, with several thousand book titles available through Amazon.com.
Well, we've still got 6 years of the west side location. Sadly, the east side is down to Half Price Books and Barnes & Noble at East Towne. I fear for Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative when the UW shifts to e-books. Unless books undergo a renaissance like vinyl records, I fear Madison will be without a bookstore in the not-so-distant future.
I agree and am hopeful that, like vinyl, books will survive. I've recently discovered fountain pens and consequently have renewed my activity in writing letters on nice paper and posting them with *stamps*. I can't be the only one. Ink is amazing.
ReplyDeleteBTW like the stuffed cabbage!
I think books will survive somehow or another. But bookstores in smaller cities may very well not.
ReplyDeleteI used to corresponding via letters but haven't in ages. It's nice to know that there are still people out there doing that.
And I'm glad to hear that you like stuffed cabbage. It's on the lunch menu today.