In a New York Magazine Intelligencer column that should be read in its entirety, Sarah McNally, owner of McNally Jackson, the New York City store that is moving because of a huge rent hike, said that her rent for the 5,700-square-foot space has been "below market" at $360,000 and the landlord wanted to raise it to $850,000 when the lease ends next year. She is finalizing a lease on a new space nearby and hopes to make an announcement about it in the next week or two. She added that the new location is large enough that she plans to fold one of her stationery stores called Goods for the Study into it.
McNally is working on plans for the new store, she said. New York Magazine wrote: "She pictures a rare-books room with a fireplace, and she's already working with an architect on plans for balconies and skylights."
While discussing retail design and deep book selection, McNally gave a shoutout to Paul Yamazaki of City Lights Books in San Francisco, saying, "Paul wants every inch of his shelves to be devoted to books people would probably not otherwise find. I'm not a purist like that at all, but his courage is in my mind, always."