The Bookshelf in Truckee, Calif., which had struggled for the past few years to remain open, will close for good this month, the Sierra Sun reported. In 2013, owner Deborah Lane had said, "Down the road, we hope we have a future." By the fall of 2015, the bookshop was put up for sale, and last year, in September, Lane announced that the business was operating on a month-to-month lease.
"The last economic downtown was pretty difficult, but people are actually coming back to bookstores, the numbers are starting to get better, and it's like too late--I'm already done," she said, adding: "We opened in June of '92, so we're not going to quite make 25 years. But I don't want to talk about that because I might cry."
The Bookshelf had also operated locations in Tahoe City and Quincy, but the former closed in 2012 and the latter was sold before that.
Lane expressed gratitude for the various community efforts that were launched to keep the store in business. "That was one reason I stayed open last year," she said, adding that she had hoped the store might sell, but negotiations were to no avail. "It kept us going, but the time comes when you have to make a choice. And since we didn't sell, it was time to retire and do other things and not have the stress of running my own business."
She also said she will miss the people most of all: "That's what it's all about--recommending books and having people love the books. It's all about the interaction, making a connection, helping people find books they might not otherwise find, because they're not exposed to it."