[URBAN NOTE] "D.C. Barnes & Noble closing, leaving no more big bookstores in the city"

[rfmcdonald]

Perry Stein's Washington Post report is sad, and somewhat stunning. No major chain bookstores in the American capital?

Washingtonians spend more money than anyone else on reading materials, but apparently they’re not doing enough of that purchasing in brick and mortar stores.

Barnes & Nobles said in a statement Friday that it would be shuttering its last location in the District not affiliated with a university at the end of the year.

The bookstore, located on the corner of 12th and E streets NW, was unable to reach an agreement with its landlord to extend its lease and will be looking for a replacement location in the near future, a Barnes & Noble official wrote in an emailed statement. Washington City Paper first reported on the closure.

“Despite our best efforts to come to an agreement with the property owner to extend the lease, they have decided to move forward with another tenant and the store will close at the end of December,” David Deason, vice president of development, wrote. “The Washington, DC community is extremely important to us.”

But, if Barnes & Noble does not find a replacement location by Dec. 31, that would leave D.C. without any traditional, big bookstore chains. There will also not be any bookstores downtown selling new books.