Shakespeare & Company ultimately got kicked out for a Foot Locker

A big rent hike helped force Shakespeare & Company's to close its longtime home at 716 Broadway between Washington Place and Waverly Place.

The landlord reportedly hiked the rent to $50,000 a month.

Anyway, as it was previously reported, a Foot Locker is taking the space... and Dave on 7th noted that the signage recently arrived.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Shakespeare & Company loses lease on Broadway

Shakespeare & Company space is for lease on Broadway

Closing times for Shakespeare and Company and Kim's

By now you are likely painfully aware that Shakespeare & Company, 716 Broadway, and Kim's Video & Music, 124 First Ave., are closing soon.



There have been several closing dates in circulation about the book shop that opened here in 1987.

According to a report at NY1, the store shutters for good after Sept. 6.

Per NY1:

It's a familiar refrain among small retailers in the East Village: "The rent has gone up," says Margot Liddell, general manager of Shakespeare and Company Books.

"I've had calls from kids, from California, from all over the place that say, 'We've heard you're going out of business and its horrible and this was our home,' you know, so...'" Liddell says.

When Shakespeare closes, many people expect a national chain store to move into the space, fitting in with this stretch of Broadway.

Items are currently 30 to 50 percent off... we haven't been inside since earlier this summer, so we can't speak of any specific deals ...



Kim's closes for good after the business day on Monday. New releases are now 50 percent off and everything else is 75 percent off.

We'll likely go back one more time, as depressing as the store kinda is now. Maybe pick up that (yet another) "Daydream Nation" reissue (we own it on cassette!) ... we might stare at that reissue of Ciccone Youth's "The Whitey Album," even though we sold it back once in like 1990. And there were a few other things too.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Shakespeare & Company loses lease on Broadway

Shakespeare & Company space is for lease on Broadway

[Updated] A really bad sign outside Kim's Video & Music on First Avenue (31 comments)

Listing for Kim's Video says space is 'ideal for Bank, 711, Starbucks'

Report: Shakespeare & Company closes for good at the end of the month

[EVG file photo]

As we first reported back on April 7, Shakespeare & Co. had lost the lease to its longtime home at 716 Broadway.

Now comes word that the bookstore will officially close at the end of this month, an employee told Gothamist.

Per Gothamist:

Right now, books and other merchandise are on sale at the Broadway store for 30 to 50 percent off. Go purchase some, and experience the soon-to-be-extinct joy of turning real, paper pages.

The current asking rent is $50,000 for the storefront between Washington Place and Waverly Place. A broker told The Commercial Observer that is likely two or three times what Shakespeare is paying now.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Shakespeare & Company loses lease on Broadway

Shakespeare & Company space is for lease on Broadway

Shakespeare & Company space is for lease on Broadway

The longtime home of Shakespeare & Company is up for grabs at 716 Broadway. As we first reported on Monday, via a tipster, the store had lost its lease here between Washington Place and Waverly Place.

Our tipster said that the landlord wants a big rent hike. How big?

Massey Knakal agent Brendan Gotch told The Commercial Observer, who first reported the news of the listing yesterday, that the asking rent is now $50,000 a month. While he does not know Shakespeare's current rent, the new rate is "probably two or three times what they're paying now."

Mr. Gotch explained that while both he and the landlord are sad to see the Shakespeare & Co. go, business is business. "That part of Broadway has changed," he said. "Their lease has expired and they're staying on briefly until the landlord acquires a new tenant. The fact of the matter is that along with many bookstores, they are having trouble paying rents that were affordable 10 years ago when they signed these leases."

Our tipster mentioned that some store regulars were interested in a crowd-funding campaign. However admirable, such a campaign is likely not going to help the store stay in a space asking twice as much rent as before…

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Shakespeare & Company loses lease on Broadway

Reader report: Shakespeare & Company loses lease on Broadway

Another book store appears to be in danger. A reliable source tells us that the 30-plus year-old Shakespeare & Co. location at 716 Broadway has lost its lease.

Per our tipster: The landlord wants more money for the storefront here between Washington Place and Waverly Place… an increase that's too much for Shakespeare to manage.

There isn't any official word yet from the store about a possible closure … and our tipster says that there is interest among some regulars in launching a fund-raising campaign to help the store either stay in its current location or find a new home.

The Shakespeare & Company closed on the Upper West Side back in 1996. The location on East 23rd Street closed several years ago. There are still locations on Lexington Avenue near Hunter and in Brooklyn near Brooklyn College.

[Image via Yelp]