Four weeks after it opened its Jefferson City store at Capital Mall, Book World announced Tuesday it will close all 45 of its stores because of increased competition from online book stores.
Wisconsin-based Book World said in a news release it will begin liquidation sales Nov. 2 at each of its stores in Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and North Dakota.
Book World hired financial services firm Yellen Partners to assist with the liquidation process.
“The national shift in the retail marketplace towards e-commerce has triggered the loss of vital mall anchor stores and a downward spiral in customer counts at Book World stores, reducing sales to a level that will no longer sustain business operations,” the company said in the news release.
Book World, currently the fourth-largest book store in the country, forged its entry into Missouri with the Jefferson City store, which opened Oct. 3. The company sells books, magazines, toys, games, puzzles, plush items, calendars, bookmarks and snacks.
Buoyed by the prospects of a new Dunham’s Sports store expected to open in early November, Book World snagged a prime location at the center of Capital Mall.
Gregg Belonger, Book World director of store operations, told the News Tribune in late September the location and the prospects of heavy foot traffic drawn by the new store attracted the company to Jefferson City.
Steve White, a partner at Capital Real Estate Services, said the mall did not receive any formal notice of closure from Book World before the company made the announcement; it found out about the news from media reports online.
Capital Real Estate Services is part of Farmer Holding Company, which owns the Capital Mall.
When talking to Book World ahead of its opening, White said the mall had no inkling something like this could happen.
“This doesn’t happen in two weeks,” White said. “This lease was under negotiation for quite some time.”
White said it’s apparent Book World had problems long before it opened the Jefferson City store. Sales, he said, were stronger than the company or the mall expected. The closure of the store will allow the mall to keep another tenant that was looking to leave the mall, he said.
“This was a chain closing that had nothing to do with the Capital Mall or Jefferson City,” White said. “They were really knocking it out at the Capital Mall.”
Barnes & Noble closed its Jefferson City store at the end of 2016 after a 13-year run when its lease at the Wildwood Crossings shopping center at 3535 Missouri Blvd. expired. Book World focused on small or touristy Midwestern markets left behind by large book companies, like Barnes & Noble and Borders, which closed its doors.
At the time, Belonger said the company probably wouldn’t stray much farther from Wisconsin.
Book World expected to employ four to six part-time booksellers, depending on foot traffic and sales, in Jefferson City. A bookseller from its Burlington, Iowa, store also relocated to Jefferson City to be the new store’s manager.
The company did not specify a date when the Jefferson City store will close but said liquidation sales at all Book World stores will run until all inventory is sold.
White said Dunham’s is expected to open with a soft opening Nov. 3 and then hold a grand opening Nov. 10. Book World’s closure is just a blip, White said. The Capital Mall still expects the holiday shopping season to be strong, given the new Dunham’s opening.
“We’re extremely excited,” White said. “We’re really looking forward to that.”