What appeared to be desperation just a few months ago is now completely turned around for McNally Jackson Books. Despite the scare back in October, the independent book shop is staying at 52 Prince Street, as first reported here. So sound is their business, in fact, that the company just spawned two new large-format bookstores.
Vulture spilled wells of ink on the subject yesterday, noting that the bookshop is opening branches at the South Street Seaport and City Point mall (joining other Manhattan neighbors like Katz’s Deli). The latter will occupy 5,300 square-feet across two floors – roughly equivalent to the flagship – while the former is even larger at 7,000 square-feet spanning several buildings. Both are on a fall 2019 opening schedule. And interestingly, landlords for both locations approached her for the leases.
As for the Little Italy original, with lease headaches in the rearview, McNally is planning renovations – more shelving and a paint job. The current landlord, Alex Berley, had cut her a deal to stay after news leaked of a $500,000 rent hike. They instead settled in the middle for an annual dole of $650,000, with gradual increases over the next five years.
Sarah McNally first opened the bookstore at 52 Prince Street back in 2004 as part of her family’s McNally Robinson chain. The store became independent four years later, when McNally split and teamed up with her husband Christopher Jackson. It later grew to include a cafe and in-house printing press.
