Olsson's Penn Quarter Closing

Dear Friends,

After 15 years in The Lansburgh building on 7th Street NW, the Penn Quarter branch of Olsson's will close on Friday, June 27, 2008. The landlord has other plans for the space. We would like to thank the many loyal customers who have shopped with us throughout the years. It has been a wonderful experience to serve this community, and we look forward to continuing the relationship with you at our five other locations.

Olsson's was a pioneer in the Penn Quarter, with a number of other local independent businesses, years before it became the thriving downtown we have now. We have enjoyed being a part of this evolving neighborhood. We are proud of the staff at Olsson's, Footnotes Cafe and our many customers, including the Shakespeare Theatre patrons, who have supported us. The store endeavored to offer a unique selection of merchandise, staff recommendations and a prestigious nationally known reading series, which featured such authors as Tom Clancy, Al Gore, General Wesley Clark, Jamie Lee Curtis, Goldie Hawn, Nick Hornby, Dinaw Mengestu, Anne Rice, Alexander McCall Smith, Cornell West, and Tom Wolfe, to name just a few.

Olsson's staff remains dedicated to selling books, and we remain firmly committed to the special ambiance that independent, neighborhood stores can provide. We understand the store will be missed and we are actively pursuing a new location, so if there are any interested or knowledgable parties out there reading this, please send us your suggestions. It will, however, take a special person or situation in this market to step forward to support the diversity and value that a bookstore can offer.

You, as loyal customers, are the key to the future success of our stores. We ask you to support us at this location one final time. Please shop our Sale. In so doing, you will be investing in the future of an independent bookstore, and give us the chance to thank you again for your support.

Thank you,
Olsson's

wow. that's a bitch.

that's unfortunate. guess folx will have to foot it over to borders or whatever it is 12th st.

supposedly their stock is 50 to 75 % off now through their closing next friday.

Originally posted by miss pretentious:
supposedly their stock is 50 to 75 % off now through their closing next friday.

Woo! But it's a damn shame they're closing. Ugh.

annnd, in case anyone cares. apparently this is what is going in:

http://wagamama.us/

i gotta say that i love wagamama :D … my first guess for a replacement would have been a bank branch, so this is much better

when i was in london for a couple of weeks in 2002 i ate there almost every day

I am sorry to hear you are closing the Penn Quarter location. It has been a favorite place of mine to browse books and CDs and have a cup of coffee. With the previous closing of the Georgetown and Metro Center stores, I hope you are not losing critical mass. Olsson's is home grown Washington and we need it to maintain a local flavor.

Maybe they could make a go of it in the just-vacated Books a Million space in Shirlington.

What with the Signature theater, library, indie movie theater, and Busboys & Poets, plus lots of new residential and shopping, it's becoming something of an arts district with more foot traffic. And Olssons' relatively hip, local vibe and stock would fit in better than Wonder Bread BAM.

Originally posted by miss pretentious:
supposedly their stock is 50 to 75 % off now through their closing next friday.

A friend of mine went by yesterday and said it was a ZOO. Lots of folks looking for cheap books & records…

Originally posted by Tonorro:
Olsson's is home grown Washington and we need it to maintain a local flavor.

My cousins work in the warehouse - keep supporting mom-n-pop shops!

There's not much there, I stopped in today. I thought about buying The Brunettes album, but put it back when I saw the line…

They had a few copies of Scarlett Johansen, Smashing Pumpkins' Zeitgeist, Junkies XL and thats about it. I didn't look at the books. It felt like Costco in there and I'm not much for competitive shopping.

Wow, that is sad that they'll be gone. That place had a nice bookstore vibe that Borders lacks.

On the other hand, Wagamama is AWESOME! Although I wonder if the competition will hurt Teaism.

man the Olssons people just don't know what they are doing…. they need to change their business model.. since I moved to DC area in 1994 they've closed I think 5-6 stores! There was Gtown , Bethesda, Metro Center, the Arlington store has been halfed (its a shell of what it was)…

People at Olssons: REACT!!!!!!!!

I do note that when they changed those coupons they gave from $20 off to 20% off they lost a lot of goodwill and certainly some customers…

I wonder how much of it is just the simple economics that there's no way for a local business (even if a chain) to compete against national chains…

the entire chain is in chapter 11

i have fond memories of Ollsons, esp the Dupont branch but their business model is dead, certainly on the music side - I went in the other day and anything I was interested in was between $13 and $20 when I could DL it from emusic for $2 or order from amazon for $10

they just did not know how to adapt…its been sad watching their demise.. its not like it happened overnight..its been going on for over a decade…

It seems that thriving indie bookstores have carved out a niche for themselves as a scene: Kramerbooks with the cafe, bar and late hours, and Politics and Prose with the daily readings and nice coffee-cafe with free wifi. Busboys & Poets have their niche selection integrated into their restaurants.

Olssons is still trying to be a general-service bookstore/music store to all people and that's a virtually impossible business to be in these days. They've tried cafes in a few stores but they've always been bland, charged for wifi and sporadically staffed. They tried DVD rentals, but it was a pain to use the service since they didn't have a return slot, and with Netflix and OD that business is becoming obsolete.

Maybe they could try to remake their remaining stores as food/bar/book destinations? Ditch most of the dying music section and keep a carefully curated small stock of new stuff and vinyl? Try to specialize in small offbeat presses, oddball titles and graphic novels like Atomic up in Baltimore? They just can't keep staying the same and hope to survive. I hope they make it somehow.

Well, now they are all closed…

PRESS RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

Olsson Enterprises, Inc., trading as Olsson's Books & Records closes stores and petitions court for Chapter 7 conversion.

Olsson Enterprises, Inc., trading as Olsson's Books & Records, Record & Tape Ltd., and Olsson's Books announced today that it has closed all of its locations and petitioned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Maryland for conversion of its current Chapter 11 protection to Chapter 7.
The reasons given for the petitioning were stagnant sales, low cash reserves, and an inability to renegotiate current leases, along with a continuing weak retail economy and plummeting music sales.

Olsson's was granted Chapter 11 protection on July 11 this year in order to work on an aggressive reorganization plan involving selected store closings and large cuts in overhead costs. At the same time the Lansburgh/ Penn Quarter location on 7th Street, N.W. was shuttered to make way for a new London-based restaurant.

Olsson's was established in 1972 and grew to as many as nine retail stores in the Washington, D.C. metro area with sales over $16 million a year and as many as 200 employees. Currently there are five retail stores: Reagan National Airport, Old Town Alexandria, Arlington Courthouse, Crystal City, and one in Northwest Washington at Dupont Circle. Olsson's earned its reputation as a locally-owned community-oriented retailer with a knowledgeable staff selling a wide selection of books, music, video and gifts.
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."

John Olsson, principal owner, Washington native and graduate of Catholic University had this to say, "Although it is certainly a sad day for us, I can rejoice in all the great memories of my life in retail in Washington. I began at Discount Record Shop on Connecticut Avenue in the fall of 1958, and worked there until 1972 when I left to open my own record store at 1900 L Street. Along the way books were added, more locations, a couple thousand employees, and many thousands of customers. It was exhilarating. Through it all, our best and brightest served Washington's best and brightest with love and distinction. I'm very proud of what we accomplished. My love and gratitude to all my employees, and special thanks to all those thousands of loyal customers."

sad.