New Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore to Open on UWS in March
A new Shakespeare and Co. bookstore is set to open in the Upper West Side near Columbia University at 2736 Broadway. Covid-19 may have presented difficulty for the business, but their customer loyalty is what helped them bounce back. Dale Neller, CEO of Shakespeare and Co. expects the new location to include more academic books for students and faculty at Columbia University as well as a high demand for political books with the upcoming election.
| 12 Feb 2024 | 04:22
The iconic Shakespeare & Co. Manhattan bookstore, founded in 1983, is expected to open another location in the Upper West Side at 2736 Broadway at the corner of West 105th Street in March. It will takeover the space of what used to house Steps, a discounted women’s clothing store that closed last year.
Their location in the UES at 939 Lexington Avenue between Park Ave. and Third Ave. has been a staple for over 20 years. The two other more recent locations are in the Upper West Side at 2020 Broadway and they’ve also branched out to Philadelphia, near Rittenhouse Square.
The new location will not have the café that the other locations have, but it will embrace a classic bookstore layout with bright window space.
“We are really excited about serving the Upper West Side and the Columbia communities,” said Dane Neller, CEO of Shakespeare & Co. “We are filling a gap there in the marketplace. And we think that the Upper West Siders are big book readers and loyal to the Shakespeare brand.”
Compared to other locations, it may appeal to more Columbia University students and faculty. “Because it’s close to Columbia, we might have more academically related books,” Neller said. “We don’t expect to be selling textbooks, but we will offer what we might see in a traditional university store, on the fiction and nonfiction side.”
Covid-19 was a challenge for the business, but their customer loyalty is what saved them after it was over. “It was a difficult period for us. We were doing online sales,” Neller said. “But after Covid-19, all the customers came back, and we were very pleased.”
Their book collection is what sets them apart from other bookstores. “We have books that range the gaunlet of what you would expect for fiction and non-fiction categories,” Neller said. “We have a great interest in our stores on romance novels, detective novels, prime novels, historical novels, foreign novels—you name it we sell it. We will also have a fairly good demand for the back list, the historical favorites and classics.”
In terms of a resurgence in what people are reading now, Neller says it’s politics. “I would expect that there will be a pretty big demand for political books,” Neller said. “That always is the case when we get in an election year.”
“We are really excited about serving the Upper West Side and the Columbia communities. There’s a real need for that.” Dane Neller, CEO of Shakespeare and Co.
“We are filling a gap there in the marketplace. And we think that the Upper West Siders are big book readers and loyal to the Shakespeare brand.”
“Because it’s close to Columbia, we might have more academically related books,” Dane Neller, CEO of Shakespeare and Co., said. “We don’t expect to be selling textbooks, but we will offer what we might see in a traditional university store, on the fiction and nonfiction side.”
“I would expect that there will be a pretty big demand for political books.” Dave Neller, CEO of Shakespeare and Co. “That always is the case when we get in an election year.”