Sherman's Books & Stationery has closed all six of its locations throughout Maine this week due to the coronavirus pandemic, but while the store plans to reopen many of them later in the year, the Camden location will be closed permanently.
Jeff Curtis, owner of Sherman's Books & Stationery, told the Penobscot Bay Pilot he realized it simply wouldn't be feasible to pay the accumulated expenses for the duration of the Camden closure, which is estimated to be at least three months. The Camden booksellers considered curbside pickup as an alternative, but based on how that's gone at other Sherman's stores, it would not be enough.
He added that although the Camden store was doing well, it was the store's least profitable location, and while Sherman's does not own the Camden storefront, working with the landlord was not the problem. He explained that given how difficult a three-month closure would be for even the most successful Sherman's locations, the store was not in a position to have the more profitable locations subsidize the less profitable.