Politics and Prose up for sale
Politics and Prose, the iconic independent bookstore on Connecticut Avenue NW that has held on against withering competition from Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and now even Costco, will soon announce what customers and employees have long feared: The place is for sale.
The 26-year-old store’s owners, Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade, both 74 and so in sync they often wear the same colors without planning to, say they are simply too tired to keep steering Washington’s most prominent non-chain bookstore — a premier stop on top-shelf author tours and a frequent setting for book talks televised on C-SPAN — through the uncertainty of an industry threatened by e-books. Cohen is also seriously ill.
“It’s time for us to stop and let somebody else take over for the future,” Meade said during a quiet interview in the store’s cramped office. Cohen, eyes reddening, said, “I just don’t have the energy like I used to.”
Stay with Postlocal.com for more details
-- Michael S. Rosenwald
By
Washington Post editors
| June 9, 2010; 12:52 PM ET
Categories:
DC, Maryland, Virginia
| Tags:
barbara meade, bookstore, carla cohen, politics and prose
Save & Share:
Previous: Slots buy for state's first casino approved
Next: Md. waiter gets 18 mos. for robbery
Posted by: FiatBooks | June 9, 2010 3:41 PM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.
Eh. This place is OK. People make a big fuss over the store. Books are important, but libraries even more so. Everyone in PP is so stuffy. I'm sure the store will be fine with new ownership.