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| Green Apple's main store. | |
San Francisco's Green Apple Books is closing its fiction and music annex at 520 Clement Street and combining all its offerings in its longtime main storefront at 506 Clement Street. The move should be completed by September 1. Green Apple Books's other branches, Green Apple Books on the Park and Browser Books, are unaffected.
Pete Mulvihill, who owns Green Apple Books with Kevin Ryan, said in a statement that Green Apple opened the annex in 1996 "in a climate of ascendant 'superstores' like Barnes & Noble and Borders. This was before Amazon was a big player, and we were trying to increase our book inventory and add other products (like laser discs and CD-ROM games!). We are now 'right-sizing.' The depth and breadth of the book selection aren't shrinking appreciably, but we are curating to the current demand."
After the consolidation, Green Apple will be "an even more book-centric bookstore and less of an emporium," Mulvihill added. "We will still offer a small selection of magazines, LPs, gifts, and even used DVDs, but the focus will be on books."
Mulvihill emphasized that Green Apple is "not in financial distress. The Covid-19 pandemic and resultant challenges play only a small part in this decision. We have been strongly supported throughout the pandemic by booklovers, customers, the San Francisco and U.S. governments, donors, friends, authors, artists, publishers, Binc, the ABA, CALIBA, and our colleagues."
Mulvihill concluded: "Shrinking Green Apple is not a defeat; it's just another step in the continuing evolution of Green Apple to the ever-changing bookselling landscape. We think the right-sized Green Apple Books will continue to be a destination-worthy bookstore, and we look forward to our 100th Anniversary party on Saturday Oct 1, 2067. Save the date."