Book Bank in Largo, Fla., which sells new and used books, will close November 28. Tampa Bay Newspapers reported that when owner Amy Schmaedeke moved to Pinellas County from Germany 21 years ago, she knew she wanted to run her own business and discovered Book Bank, which had opened in 1996 and was up for sale in 1998, so she bought it.
"It's a shame. I feel sorry for our repeat customers. They've been so loyal for 15, 20 years," Schmaedeke said, adding: "In the last two years, we were not making money. I was working for free, basically, the last two years, and every year it was like maybe next year will be better, and maybe the next year will be better. All the expenses keep going up and the income keeps going down and at the point where they meet there's no sense anymore....
"Having this store is like doing a Ph.D. because for me, anyway, I learned a lot. All kinds of books come into the store every day, things you didn't even know existed. It's a shame to lose that. And now for me, where do I go for my books? Now I have to go find books somewhere, but there isn't anywhere."