Kepler's Suddenly Shuts Its Doors

On Wednesday morning at around 9:00 a.m., Kepler's bookstore suddenly shut its doors, bringing an abrupt end to what had been a Menlo Park, California, institution for over 50 years.

In a letter addressed to Friend of Kepler's posted to the store's website, www.keplers.com, Clark Kepler, said, "After 50 years of bookselling in Menlo Park, Kepler's is going out of business. The decision to close our doors has been one of the most difficult in my life. As much as we love what we do and would like to continue another 50 years, we simply cannot. The economic downturn since 2001 has proven to be more than we can rebound from....

"In today's political and social climate, I would like to be there with you and for you, providing books and writers with varied ideas and provocative opinions, but the constancy of change will not allow it."

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that in a phone conversation on Wednesday an emotionally drained Kepler said of the decision to close, "It is the most difficult decision that I've ever made ... but as hard as we've worked to maintain sales and stay open ... we were insolvent."

"This is obviously a huge loss for the independent bookselling community," Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Executive Director Hut Landon told BTW.

The Palo Alto Weekly reported that Kepler gathered his employees together early Wednesday morning to inform them of the store's closing, and, the article noted, "Employees were left stunned and reeling from the announcement as Kepler cited financial problems that had built since the dot-com bust of 2001. Some employees cried during Kepler's short announcement."

According to the Mercury News, Kepler placed a sign on the locked front door that stated, "As much as we love what we do and would like to continue another 50 years, we simply cannot." By noon, "a steady stream of people had wandered over to the building on El Camino Real to read the sign. The reaction was universal: Shock," as reported by the Mercury News.

David Johnson, Menlo Park city business development manager, told Mercury News that officials tried to help Kepler negotiate a lower rent for his bookstore, but without success."