Patchouli Joe's Books & Indulgences in Denton, Tex., "which looked like it might still have a home in downtown Denton," will close on May 30, the Record-Chronicle reported. Owners Charlie Forester, Stephanie Forester, Diane Mayes, and Joe Mayes had announced in January that a March closure was possible. Before the end of that month, however, a Mulberry Street location became an option, but due to unexpected additional costs the plan could not be realized.
Earlier this week, the owners said: "While we'll continue to pop up at events and venues in town, we will no longer have a brick-and-mortar location."
Mayes told the Record-Chronicle, "Commercial real estate rules are different than residential real estate rules. Commercial real estate owners can pass on expenses to their tenants that residential real estate owners can't." He added that the letter of intent regarding the property differed from the actual lease: "We just couldn't find an agreement with the landlord, so we shook hands and parted ways."
The economic downturn played a role as well. "Once the economy turned, that's when things started moving in a direction we couldn't recover from," Mayes said. "Books aren't groceries. Books are a luxury item, and people have to choose whether they can afford to have them," Mayes said, adding: "By the time we close, it'll be five years to the day that we've had to be a part of downtown Denton. We couldn't be prouder of what we've done, or happier that we did it."