Chicago's Prairie Avenue Bookshop May Be Forced to Close in September

Some potentially sad local news here. The Tribune‘s Blair Kamin reports that the forty-eight year old Prairie Avenue Bookshop in downtown Chicago is facing closure, unless they can find a new buyer for the building. The bookshop, which specializes in architecture books, and is the first place any building buff should stop if you’re visiting town, had been hit by the economy, the city’s continuing sales tax hikes, and customers leaving to buy online. It’s difficult to see how they’d be able to pull off saving the store, as several of their options, like teaming with the Chicago Architecture Foundation, have fallen through and the economy certainly isn’t rising anytime soon.