At the end of the month, Book Passage, which has three stores in the Bay Area, is closing its Sausalito, Calif., location, which opened in late 2016. The store, which has about 1,800 square feet of space, is a block north of the terminal for the ferry to San Francisco. (Steps from the other end of the ferry ride is another Book Passage. The original Book Passage store is in Corte Madera.)
Sales at the Sausalito store were "less than we had hoped, so we decided it was best to concentrate on our other two stores," co-owner Bill Petrocelli said. "The employees from the Sausalito store will be coming over to the other stores. As far as we could see, the customers at the Sausalito store were largely people who had already been customers at our other stores, so we don't expect that will change much."
He added overall business at Book Passages is fine and the company's expanding with several new program. "We think the closure of that store will actually have a positive impact on our overall business."
Elaine Petrocelli founded Book Passage in 1976 in Larkspur in a 900-square-foot space. Ten years later, Book Passage moved to Corte Madera and has grown steadily over the years to more than 12,000 square feet. In 2003, the Petrocellis opened in San Francisco. Book Passage holds an impressive range of author events, workshops, classes and conferences, including the Mystery Writers Conference and the Travel Writers and Photographers Conference.