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LA Observed followers have known since October that the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Westside Pavilion is closing at the end of the year. There was quite a reaction back then on the Facebook page. Now readers of today's L.A. Times know too. The story adds a nice additional detail: It's Urban Home, not H&M, that will go into the space at Pico and Westwood boulevards, with opening expected not before August.
Since I posted about the closure a month ago, I've heard from several staffers (and friends of employees) who say the problem was not lack of sales but B&N's displeasure with new lease terms offered by the mall, and by mall owner Macerich's upkeep of the place. There have been complaints about elevator breakdowns, power failures and more. The recent start of paid parking at Westside Pavilion didn't help business, but Barnes & Noble staffers say the store was doing fine and hopes to find another location not too far away. In the meantime, as I noted back in October, once the store shutters the closest general bookstores will be the Barnes & Noble outlets on 3rd Street Promenade, in Marina del Rey and at the Grove, and the Ackerman Union bookstore at UCLA.
Previously in LA Observed Books:
Author visits Metropolis Books 'with a heavy heart'
Scott Wannberg, poet of Dutton's was 58
Wait, some good news: a new bookstore
Bookstore down: Village Books to close its doors
Appreciating the art of the LAPD report
Mystery Bookstore in Westwood to close
LA Observed photos