EAST VILLAGE- - Since the economic crash in 2008 the St. Marks Bookstore has watched their business slowly decline and their rent increase and is now asking their landlord of the building, Cooper Union, to lower their rent in order to stay open.
The bookstore is co-owned by Terry McCoy and Bob Contant. McCoy was able to comment briefly on the store’s situation, explaining that the store is a sublease because Cooper Union owns the building but not the land and that the negotiations started with the Cooper Union Board of Directors Executive Committee and is now in the hands of the Business and Finance Committee. The store’s rent is currently $20,000 a month and there are escalations annually. “The reason we are asking for the rent to be reduced is because since the crash in 2008 we have made so many cuts that there’s nothing else to cut now. It’s kind of amazing how much we could cut once we worked at it.” McCoy and Contant have been told by the committee that a decision will be reached by the end of October.
McCoy was unsure of what the worst outcome possible might be if the rent is not reduced because of the amount of cuts they have made over the past few years. However he did note that “publicity has been great for business and there has been a surge over the past few weeks in sales which has been a great. People coming in and just buying a book is very helpful.”
Although the decline in sales over the past few years for the bookstore is alarming for the owners, employees and those in the community who have remained loyal customers, some are still unaware of the situation despite publicity. One of the neighboring restaurants to the bookstore is The Barrel, and the bartender Jeremy Bacon said that the co-owner Bob Contant comes in almost everyday for lunch and that he’s “a great customer, very sweet but has not mentioned anything about the store’s situation” and was very surprised when informed about the potential threat of the bookstore closing.
Part of the store’s charm that seems to have kept it as an important landmark is that it is a relaxing and serene environment to browse in, with elements as simple as nondescript music playing such as a volume of “Ethiopiques”, to set the mood. One customer who wished to remain anonymous, said that he has been coming to the store for years and thinks the store’s situation is very sad. “When I moved here thirty-five years ago there was a bookstore and a record store on every corner”. When asked about the increasing trend of bookstores closing and the rise of digital books he felt that “without them it’s very isolating and depressing because it takes away a place to browse and get together and meet people”.
When asked about the store’s unique sections and characteristics in comparison to other bookstores, employee Shauna Westgate reminisced about what used to be a beautiful poetry section, a well-stocked selection of critical theory books and even a section dedicated to anarchy. According to Westgate stock starting declining along with sales about two years ago and many of the unique sections and genres that the store was known for like the ones mentioned above are either dwindling or non-existent now, “it’s just very sad because we know how full it used to be.”
However, as mentioned before by Terry McCoy, sales having been increasing with support in the community and if it continues that will greatly help the store. Westgate hopes that if the support does continue they will hopefully be able to start getting more stock in and start building everything back up to where it used to be.
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