Books Inc., the oldest independent bookseller in the Bay Area, announced Tuesday that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Berkeley location is set to shutter Feb. 9.
Founded in 1851, Books Inc. has filed a voluntary petition for reorganization, the company stated on its website. With three locations in San Francisco and another half dozen around the Bay Area, the historic bookstore chain “isn’t going anywhere,” leadership emphasized. It will continue to operate while shoring up its finances.
The move comes in response to “annual revenue losses resulting from steadily rising operating costs and dramatically changing consumer buying habits exacerbated by the Covid pandemic,” the release stated.
“Books Inc. is not going away,” CEO Andy Perham said. “Our board, investors, senior managers, and key partners agree that reorganizing with the tools afforded us by Chapter 11 is the fastest path toward putting our company on a smaller, financially stronger platform from which we can continue our long legacy of serving California readers.”
Employees at the Berkeley store will be transferred to other locations. The company, once based in San Francisco, has its headquarters in San Leandro.
The initial court hearing will be Jan. 27, according to spokesperson Steven Silvers. After that, a timeline for the proposed reorganization will be put into place.
“Then we’ll start to have an idea as to when we’re going to emerge out of Chapter 11 a stronger, presumably somewhat smaller, company,” Silvers said.
Silvers could not comment if further Books Inc. store closures were coming, but noted that foot traffic across the company was down since the pandemic, including the San Francisco stores. “There are discussions going on with landlords and publishers to work out the most favorable terms,” he said. “But this is a bookstore brand with a very loyal customer base.”
Independent bookstores nationwide continue to struggle amid high costs. However, there have been bright spots, such as when employees of the former Folio Books in Noe Valley launched a crowdfunding campaign in November and reopened at Noe Valley Books.
This story has been updated with additional comment from Books Inc.