According to The Bookseller, London’s Murder One bookstore is to close down at the end of the month. Apparently its demise can be credited to the downturn in the economy.
Murder One, the specialist crime bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London, is to close at the end of January after nearly 21 years. Co-owner Maxim Jakubowski said the shop would be going into voluntary liquidation, and that all bills to publishers would be paid.
“Over the last few years our sales have deterioriated,” he said. “I was planning to retire this year, but this is earlier than expected. For the benefit of staff, publishers and suppliers, I would rather close the shop now and go out voluntarily with my head held high and no debts.”
Seven staff at the bookshop will lose their jobs.
F*ck, buggery bollocks.
It’s been one of my must-visit stores, since my fave local indy bookstore closed. London will be even more depressing than it is already, without this shining beacon. I thinik it was also the first store in the country to stock Elloras Cave books.
Crap and buggery bollocks. I hate this freaking credit crunch.
Via Lee Goldberg.
Rosario
January 5
11:08 pm
Oh NO!!!! I visited for the first time only yesterday and thought it was absolutely brilliant. First time I’ve seen a romance section like that, clearly managed by someone who knows the genre.
Karen Scott
January 5
11:23 pm
Tell me about it!
Hey, you still in England then?
ESheedy
January 6
12:27 am
Honest to God, hearing reports of bookstore closings is beginning to feel like a death in the family! And it doesnt matter if the death is in the US, England, or here in Canada. Damn, but it hurts!
What you said about the credit crunch, Karen? Make that times two . . .
Bhetti B
January 6
12:41 am
*pencil’s in Charing Cross Road as place to visit this Wednesday/Weekend* Thanks for the heads up!
Shiloh Walker
January 6
2:53 am
Well that sucks.
The lady who invited me to join in the Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance works at MurderOne, if I remember right.
That really, really bites.
Tuscan Capo
January 6
4:38 am
Shiloh said it for me; sux. Sorry to hear it, Karen 🙁
RenaRuadh
January 8
12:32 pm
Bl**dy hell! Every time I had to go to London for business I had two shops to visit: Murder One and Les Senteurs! That was always something to look forward to during long boring lectures, imagining what books I’d buy and what perfumes I’d sniff. Well, that is really going to take quite a bit of the enjoyment of London trips away.