The uptown literary community will look different with the Shakespeare & Co. closure on W. 105th Street (2736 Broadway).
After financial strains, the indie bookstore is forced to shutter in April 2025, even though it’s only been a year since this particular location opened. During the first weekend of March, the store’s employees hung closing signs and advertised its storewide sale on the building’s windows, much to the community’s disappointment.
Shakespeare & Co.’s first location on the Upper East Side opened in 1983 and became a go-to source for students at Hunter College — a sentiment the brains behind the business wanted for W. 105th Street and Columbia University students. The original Upper West Side storefront closed in 1996, reopened in 2018 and expanded with W. 105th Street. Though it’s the end of the era in the triple-digits, rest assured that the shop’s other two locations will remain open.
Though it is definitely a sad move for bookworms, a venture further uptown will lead towards the newly-opened Fountain Bookshop, a bookstore and ice cream shop hybrid in Washington Heights that brings together the best of both worlds.
“Whether [customers] come in for an ice cream or browse for 30 minutes, for me it’s really special that I could curate a space where everyone is welcome to come in and look around and no one is judging your ideas,” owner Karah Pinto told Secret NYC in fall 2024.
In addition to scoping out new bookstores, of course, make sure to enjoy Shakespeare & Co. while you can. Support the literary gem by snagging your next read online or in-store before its closure.
📍939 Lexington Ave (UES at E. 69th St)
📍2020 Broadway (UWS at W. 69th St.)
📍2736 Broadway (UWS at W. 105th St.)