Curious George & Friends opened in 1995 as Curious George Goes to Wordsworth. The name changed when Wordsworth went out of business in 2004. I started shopping there in 1996, when I was 18 and my niece was two. Now my niece is 17, my daughter is two, and Curious George is closing.
They were closed yesterday when I went to pay my respects (and do some discount shopping).
All the bare shelves used to be so packed with books that you'd have to wiggle them back in after you were done looking at them. That book you loved when you were a kid, whose name you forgot even though you could still describe the cover? They had it.
I never minded paying full price for books & toys there (instead of less at the big box stores) because I knew everything in Curious George was chosen with love and care. I will admit that I felt a little bad about being the aunt who gave two gifts instead of six, though.
But even at full price, I imagine they'd have to sell more books than anyone buys to continue to afford the $15,000 a month rent.
I'm heartbroken, and I felt a little silly about it because as my mom loves saying, it's not like somebody died. But as I was taking pictures through the windows yesterday, three separate people came up to the door, read the sign, and said, "Oh, no." At least I'm not alone.
[Totally Selfish Side Note: Does anyone know what happens to the store's decorations? Because I would shank my neighbors for a chance at George in the rocket ship.]
I would help you hide the body if we could time-share the sign..
ReplyDeleteSo many bookstores are closing! I remember spending my lunch hour browsing through Barnes and Noble when I first worked downtown.
ReplyDeleteOh, no! This is terrible. Sure, we can all get books on the internet, but we can't page through them and make sure they're just right, or walk around trying to find the one from childhood we'd recognize only by its cover. What a huge bummer.
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