City Desk » Olsson’s

At Least One Canceled Olsson’s Reading Finds a New Home

Mark Athitakis — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:25:49 +0000

On top of eradicating a much-loved local chain, the closure of Olsson's bookstores also played havoc with the schedules of a few authors who had readings scheduled at the stores. At least one writer has found a new date and place to do a little self-promotion: Michael Kimball, Baltimore author of the novel Dear Everybody and guy who'll write your life story on a postcard if you ask---will now speak Wednesday, Nov. 5, at the Georgetown Barnes & Noble. He'll be joined by fellow Baltimorean Jessica Anya Blau, author of The Summer of Naked Swim Parties. For more on Dear Everybody, check out the video below:

If you're an author whose Olsson's reading has been rescheduled, drop a line and/or make mention of it in the comments.

Olsson’s Dupont Store Closed

Mark Athitakis — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:01:55 +0000

Bad news for D.C. bookstores today: DCist reports that Olsson's Dupont Circle store has closed. This follows the bookseller filing for bankruptcy in July; earlier this month Shelf Awareness reported that the local chain's head book buyer and general manager, Alexis Akre, left the company.

Nobody's picking up the phone at any of the chain's stores. More as we hear it, but this is clearly a bad turn of events for both readers and authors. Olsson's, especially the Dupont Circle store, provided a haven for readings by writers who weren't big-deal enough to nab a slot at Politics & Prose; the events page on the chain's Web site, still live, gives you a sense of that. Dupont Circle still has some top-shelf used shops, including Second Story Books and Books for America. But the fact that the sole places selling new books in Dupont is now Kramerbooks, a place that's all about brunch and bestsellers, or Books-a-Million, which just deals in bestsellers, is more than a little disheartening.

Update: A press release on Olsson's homepage announces that the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy:

Stephen Wallace-Haines, Olsson's general manager stated: "In the end, all the roads towards reorganization led to this dead end: we did not have the money required to pay for product in advance, to collect reserves to buy for Christmas, and satisfy the demands of rent and operational costs. We were losing money just by staying open."

Mark Athitakis — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:11:34 +0000

This morning's Shelf Awareness has a few details from Olsson's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The local bookstore chain claims $929,428 in assets and $1,951,629 in liabilities. The usual reasons are cited for the downturn, but controller Terence McCann expressed confidence about the future of the business in the filing (hence the Chapter 11 claim, not Chapter 7): rebuilding the chain, he writes, "involves raising working capital, seeking investors, reducing overhead costs, adding new merchandise, refurbishing stores, retaining leases where achievable or relocating to communities that will support the concept of an independent bookstore. We still think that Olsson’s has something to offer and can do business in this market."