Coliseum Books Readies to Face Lions, Fierce Competition, and Poor Economy

At the end of May, just around the corner from the literary stone lions affront the massive New York Public Library on West 42nd Street in Manhattan, will stand an incarnation of the late, and much lamented, Coliseum Books. On January 31, 2002, when the 27-year-old Coliseum Books at 57th Street and Broadway closed, New York City lost one of its pre-eminent bookstores. The original Coliseum Books boasted about 100,000 titles in 11,500 square feet of selling space, no comfortable places to sit, and no café. Still the store was legendary for having "exactly the book the customer wants, when he wants it," according to co-founder and co-owner George S. Leibson.

Author Susan Sontag, recently quoted in the New York Daily News, said, "I've been mourning for the Coliseum since it closed, New York readers deserve this reprieve." The New York Times' feature on playwright Tony Kushner's commitment ceremony with Mark Harris, included the following, "Their dates took place either in theaters or bookstores. 'When Coliseum Books closed, we practically wore black armbands,' Mr. Kushner said."

The closing of the original Coliseum Books was necessitated by a rent increase. The increase, coupled with the slim profit margins on books, aggressive marketing by huge national chains, and the expansion of online bookselling, put Leibson and partners out of business. Now he and bookstore veteran Irwin Hersch are co-owners of the new store, and many of the 80 staff members will return, along with the fixtures and 100,000 titles. Leibson is repeatedly asked why, in the current business climate and with unsteady book sales, he is reopening an independent bookstore. His answer to all, including BTW, is, "I'm 58 years old and I've never done anything else in my life. I started working at Bookmasters in 1965 … then with [Bookmasters co-owner] Sy Rubin opened Coliseum Books.

"We'll know exactly where our one copy of the book you want is…. A superstore might say it has five copies, but no one there can devote the time to restocking and knowing all the books they sell."

In a recent interview in Business Week, Leibson described his investors as his accountant, his real estate agent, a publisher, a friend in the construction business, and a neighbor of his accountant. In the same interview, Leibson explained that according to his projections, based on sales from the old store, Coliseum will make a greater profit than bank interest rates or the stock market. When the build-out is completed, the store will have somewhat less than 10,000 square feet of selling space and a 1,000-square-foot café.

Leibson said, "We have had problems with the construction, things not being delivered on time. This won't be easy, but it's what we know, and we know it well enough to compete with the chains -- so that's what we'll do." -- Nomi Schwartz