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Barnes & Noble's Former Flagship Location On Fifth Ave Has Permanently Closed
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jan 7, 2014
Modified Jan 8, 2014
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jan 7, 2014
Modified Jan 8, 2014
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Barnes & Noble's former flagship location at 105 Fifth Avenue has shuttered for good. A tipster alerted us to the closure earlier today, and a message on the store's answering machine notes that the location "is permanently closed," directing callers to the nearby Union Square store.
It's been a rough couple of years for the chain bookstore, and a number of locations have shut down over the years, including the popular Lincoln Square store, which closed in 2011.
Company spokesperson Mary Ellen Keating tells us the store closed at the end of the day yesterday, and that at the time the location was one of the company's college bookstores and not a general retailer. "The store sold primarily textbooks, and had a large selection of trade," she said in a statement. "Trade business has largely been transferred to our nearby Union Square store, now by far our largest volume store in the country."
According to Barnes & Noble's website, the 18th Street location was the only surviving store when current chairman Leonard Riggio acquired the flagship by the 1970s.
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