Shakespeare & Co, located across from Hunter’s North Building at 939 Lexington Ave., is shutting its doors. Home to literature, textbooks, art supplies and more, the store had something for everyone.
Hunter junior, Kaylah Atwell, mostly went there for textbooks, but enjoyed a novel or two in between classes. She never thought it would close, since it’s always so packed with eager customers.
“[It] had 99% of the items I needed … it was quite expensive for notepads and notebooks, but it was convenient, so I didn’t mind,” she said.
The closing of Shakespeare & Co is devastating for its customers, as well as its employees.
Maddie Wank, who’s been working at Shakespeare & Co for a year, said the store generally has no centralized communication system.
“We all learned at different times. I came into work one day and found out because my coworkers were talking about it,” Wank said.
Another employee, Amaya Williams, had a similar experience: “I actually found out at the same time the customers did. When they put the signs up, that’s about when I found out,” she said.
When told about the lack of communication at such a beloved store, Atwell had a lot to say.
“From a moral standpoint, it’s not correct at all,” said Atwell. “The employees need to know these things, especially if they need to find a new job ASAP. I think the employees deserve better. It’s a shame.”
Shakespeare & Co is closing two out of their three stores in the city. Despite having one store stay open, the management has no plans to relocate employees from this store to their other one.
“I’ll just have to find another job,” Wank said. “There’s no positions open. It’s three stores down to one.”
Amaya says she’ll go back to her home state, Georgia, where she’ll get a summer job until she can find a new opportunity in the city.
The store on Lexington, as well as the one on Broadway and 105th Street, are closing due to an increase in rent prices. The stores aren’t making enough in sales to be sustainable. This is just a few months after the Lexington store completely removed its café section, turning its upstairs into strictly a bookstore.
The downstairs area, where students can find art supplies, stationery and iconic Hunter merch, will be closing as well.
For in-person shopping, the last remaining Shakespeare & Co is located near Lincoln Center, at 2020 Broadway.
The two stores are expected to close for good in late April, but for now, customers can enjoy 25% off art products and 15% off everything else.
As for Hunter gear, students can still purchase textbooks and course materials from Hunter College’s official online bookstore, but there may be in-person expansions in the future.
Hunter’s Office of Communications and Marketing told The Athenian via email, “There is an active conversation at the highest levels of the college about how best meet students’ needs for essentials, including exploring ways to improve access to on-campus resources.”
The Athenian reached out to Shakespeare & Co directly for comments, but did not get a response.
