The bookstore company featured in the seminal film "When Harry Met Sally," is reportedly closing two of its brick-and-mortar locations, leaving only one New York City shop open by the end of the month
Beloved bookstore Shakespeare & Co. is closing the doors on its third Manhattan location, on Broadway and West 105th Street, almost one year after launching the store.
"Shakespeare & co. regrets to announce that we will soon be leaving this location. We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your support and loyalty over the past year. It has been a pleasure serving this wonderful neighborhood community," a sign addressed to customers at the 105th location reads.
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WATCH HEREOne of the Upper West Side store's owners told the West Side Rag the decision to close the store was due to financial concerns.
"It was a really great landlord, a wonderful community," Dane Neller 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."
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SIGN UP Neller told the West Side Rag that the bookstore company's East Side store on Lexington Avenue between East 68th Street and East 69th Street will also close. There are no plans to close the second Upper West Side location on Broadway between West 68th Street and West 69th Street.
Shakespeare & Co. once had another Broadway location eventually pushed out by the rise of Amazon and bigger book retailers like Barnes & Noble. That 81st Street store gained an extra bit of notoriety serving as a backdrop in the classic film "When Harry Met Sally."
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Remember that scene in When Harry Met Sally where Harry sees Sally at a bookstore? Well, that was the old Shakespeare & Company on Broadway and 81st Street. We may not have @BillyCrystal or Meg Ryan, but we have some great books! Come on in, you never know who you will meet! pic.twitter.com/d8fuHMDrL6
— Shakespeare & Co. Upper West Side (@ShakeandCoUWS) March 18, 2021
Final dates on the company's two store closings are not yet known.
