Vald Svekis, owner of Liberties Fine Books, Music and Café in Boca
Raton, Fla., the large, often-innovative independent that closed in 2001,
has signed a 15-year lease to operate a nearly 25,000-sq.-ft. store in
Mizner Park, the same upscale shopping center where Liberties was
located, several local newspapers reported.
As yet unnamed, the store, "a literary and entertainment complex," according to Svekis and the mall owners, will be in the building that used to house the International Museum of Cartoon Art.
Mayor Steven Abrams told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "We all remember Liberties when Mizner Park was in its heyday," a heyday he attributed in large part to Liberties.
Svekis told the paper that the new store would include an extensive selection of books in various languages; two performance areas, including one offering free live music; a publishing arm; a teahouse; a cinema devoted to foreign and independent films; and space for writers to work. He's also considering creating "environmental writing chambers" for writers to feel certain special effects. "We're going to have an unbelievable place and we'll be on the cutting edge of bookstores again," he added.
Svekis told the Palm Beach Post: "I think the secret in the book business is the time you keep the person in the store. The longer you're in, the more you buy."
As yet unnamed, the store, "a literary and entertainment complex," according to Svekis and the mall owners, will be in the building that used to house the International Museum of Cartoon Art.
Mayor Steven Abrams told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "We all remember Liberties when Mizner Park was in its heyday," a heyday he attributed in large part to Liberties.
Svekis told the paper that the new store would include an extensive selection of books in various languages; two performance areas, including one offering free live music; a publishing arm; a teahouse; a cinema devoted to foreign and independent films; and space for writers to work. He's also considering creating "environmental writing chambers" for writers to feel certain special effects. "We're going to have an unbelievable place and we'll be on the cutting edge of bookstores again," he added.
Svekis told the Palm Beach Post: "I think the secret in the book business is the time you keep the person in the store. The longer you're in, the more you buy."