The Books-A-Million store in Hixson, with a twist in its future, is expected to close again, the store manager said Thursday.
The exact closing date is still known, but the bookstore on Highway 153 has put everything up for sale at a 20% discount, said shop manager Moon McCroskey.
He said about 16 workers are now running on site, occupying a component of a central strip at 5230 Route 153.
Last July, the store, which has been operating on the site for more than 25 years, had to close, according to the Birmingham-based company.
But in August, a Books-A-Million official said it would open after the company signed a new lease for the site.
McCroskey said he didn’t know why the store had to close this time. The company director did not respond to phone calls.
Soddy-Daisy’s Curt Johnson bookstore owner told the unit Thursday that he would miss her. When I have a few days off each week, one of those days will pass, he said.
“I’m a type of eBook or Kindle,” Johnson said, adding that he likes to open and close an e-book in his hands.
He said he had visited the store for a long time, for at least 10 years, and had issued a Books-A-Million club card that he had had for so long that the maximum impressions had turned white.
Although he didn’t buy anything on Thursday, he said it’s “good to stop by and see what’s in it. “
Glenda Baucom of Hixson said she is also buying groceries at the bookstore, which has a giant “store lock” sign stuck in the front of the building.
“I’m sorry to see you closely, ” he said. At the same time, Baucom said he had started ordering many books online.
Last July, when the first final was announced, a corporate official said sales were “good” in the store, but remained in a review of the e-book seller’s genuine real estate portfolio.
“We have to make difficult decisions. She’s one of them,” said Melanie Smith, the company’s vice president of marketing last year.
In August, when the store won a pardon, he said it “had continued to function. “
For decades, the small shopping center has been anchored through Books-A-Million and Toys ‘R’ Us. The Toys ‘R’ Us store closed its doors in 2015 after 20 years on the site. Hunting in 2016.
For more than a decade and a half, bookstores have been affected by online sales and some primary chains have closed their doors. With last year’s coronavirus outbreak, many independent bookstores have had to temporarily close their doors.
Contact Mike Stop at mpare@timesfreepress. com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.