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For Lincoln Center's corner of the Upper West Side, what goes in apparently must come out. Just as the area gets a new neighbor in the gamut of shows this September, it's about to lose another, as the Barnes & Noble on 66th Street, a neighborhood mainstay for the past 15 years, will be closing at the beginning of next year.
The closing of a four-floor bookstore down the block from Lincoln Center could signal the beginning of the end for big box bookstores in New York. Many people pass through the beloved UWS Barnes & Noble's' doors, but few actually purchase books—one person the Times spoke with comes in to read Bill Simmons' Book of Basketball one chapter at a time; another buys coffee, but flips through magazines for free.
With sales transferring online and the company itself in trouble (Barnes & Noble is on sale and currently fighting for control with investor Ronald W. Burkle), the store can't commit to paying an increased rent when their lease is up this January, and will vacate instead. The spokeswoman for the bookstore chain said that "a search was under way for a new location on the Upper West Side", but with a humongous east side outpost on 86th and Lexington, it's unsure where they would head to. Barnes & Noble: you will be missed.
· At Bookstore, Even Non-Buyers Regret Its End [NY Times]
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