JenEngel

Basalt’s TownCenter Booksellers will close at the end of March which is heartbreaking for members of the Basalt and Roaring Fork Valley community.  Many customers feel that the bookstore is more than a retail store – it is a community gathering place and a store that adds to the small-town character and charm of Basalt.  The store is located at 211 Midland Avenue, under the signature town clock tower.   The interior and exterior space was gutted and renovated by the current owners and offers 2,000 square feet of retail space along with some office space.

Bookstore owners Louise and Clay Bennett decided that it was best to close the store due to the current economic recession and challenges presented by being in competition with national chains.  A New York Times article from 2008 said that the number of independent bookstores in the U.S. fell from 4,700 in 1993 to 2,500 last year, citing statistics from American Booksellers Association. 

They owners stated that they “have thoroughly enjoyed our relationship with the bookstore and the literary community of the Roaring Fork Valley”.  They are heart-broken over the decision to close, but very proud of what they accomplished. 

The closure is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 28th.  We will miss you TownCenter Booksellers!

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 and is filed under Basalt, Shops, Website. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.