Books Again Plans to Close Store, Go Online-Only

For 13 years, Books Again has been the go-to place for those who found joy in pulling back the cover of a desired tome to escape into and read a treasure of creativity, knowledge and imagination.

But while those traditionalists are still out there, there's not enough of them for independent booksellers like Books Again to stay in business without struggling.

It explains why Books Again owner Jim Adams has decided to close the store's bricks-and-mortar location by the end of the year and go online-only.

“After 13 years of selling lots of books and making even more friends, I have decided to make Books Again an online-only shop," Adams said in a statement released Thursday about the future of the business at 225 North McDonough St.

"The brick-and-mortar store will be closed by the end of 2013 or before, depending on how quickly the inventory and fixtures are sold."

Beginning Saturday, Oct. 26, every book in the store will be sold at a 50 percent discount — with the exception of consignment items.

Books Again has been a fixture in Decatur community since its opened for business and was a fixture in its annual independent book festival.

And Adams also has hosted events at Books Again, including a “Big Read” evening, in partnership with Decatur-based Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta.
 
But Adams' decision is not a surprising one.

It comes as a confluence of factors — the ever-growing popularity of electronic tablets and the retailing juggernaut that is Amazon.com Inc. — has forced fellow independent booksellers to do the same.

Borders Group Inc.,  which operated the Borders and Waldenbooks chain of stores, went into bankruptcy and out of existence in 2011 in part because of those reasons, as well as additional issues.

If you go: The store will be open seven days a week, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Cash, check, or credit cards are accepted. If a customer would like to use trade credit, the discount will be 20 percent.