Manhattan's Murder Ink Knocked Off

Murder Ink, the mystery bookstore on upper Broadway in New York City, and its sister store, Ivy's Books and Curiosities, are closing at the end of the month, the New York Times reported.

According to owner Jay Pearsall, the culprits included:

• Rent of $18,000 a month.
• A Barnes & Noble 10 blocks away that has been "chipping away at business for years"
• Amazon and eBay, which "killed off mail-order business and sales of rare books"
• The death of many longtime customers, "lots of them immigrants, lots of them Jewish, educated, liberal."

Pearsall said that in recent years, the 34-year-old store has "depended on sales from nonbook items that yield larger profit margins, like greeting cards, journals and action figures of Carl Jung and Rosie the Riveter."