After 24 years at 18 W. 18th St. in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, Books of Wonder is moving one block south, to 42 W. 17th St. The store's lease had ended at the end of 2019 and was extended in a limited way by the landlord, for which owner Peter Glassman, writing in an e-mail to customers, expressed great appreciation.
A new tenant is moving in soon, so Books of Wonder closed the W. 18th St. store yesterday and is "working as quickly as possible to get the new store up and running," Glassman said. "We hope to welcome you to our new home sometime during the week of October 19th. Stay tuned for updates as we post them!"
Glassman remembered fondly "the space where we have shared so many wonderful experiences together over the years. It's been 40 years since I first opened that tiny store on Hudson Street and, believe it or not, the new store at 42 West 17th Street will be our sixth location in the Chelsea/West Village area."
Books of Wonder's uptown store, at 217 W. 84th St., remains open, and all virtual events and storytimes are continuing as scheduled. In 2017, when Glassman announced plans to open the uptown store, he said, "I wanted to make sure we had another location open and well established before the current store's lease expires, so if we have difficulty finding a new location and have to close for a few months we would have another location to serve our customers, not be out of business for any period of time, and not have to lay off my wonderful staff."