Skip to main content

Wolfgang Books To Close in March

Sad news to report, Wolfgang Books will be closing at the end of March. Owner Jason Hafner sent out the following:
I am sorry to say that Wolfgang Books will close when our lease expires at the end of March. After five years, I can no longer maintain the business and am not able to renew the lease. I have enjoyed my time as the owner of Wolfgang Books considerably, and I thank all of you who have supported the store over the past five years.

It is news to no one that our country's economy is struggling at the moment, and sales at Wolfgang Books have been affected dramatically over the past year or so. In addition, as more and more people move to e-readers we have experienced a classic example of a "chipping away effect." While a great deal of Wolfgang Books customers remain committed to books as a physical object, not all do, and the margins are too slim to be able to sustain a loss of any of our patrons. This isn't to say that one way is right or wrong; it is just the unavoidable truth.

While I am thankful for all of our customers and recognize that there are people who do their best to buy their books locally and independently, there just aren't enough of you to keep the store going. There are surely factors for this -- the town itself, foot traffic on Bridge Street, the store's location -- but, as above, the reasons don't matter as much as the reality caused by them.

I have had the good fortune to work with so many wonderful people in the book business. I feel lucky to have worked with such inspiring colleagues, and I do hope that we can work together in the future. In the meantime, keep on doing your good work.

I do not currently know what lays ahead for me, but I am hopeful for the future. I do regret, though, that it will not be one where I am selling books in Phoenixville. Thank you again for your support over the past five years, and I hope that many great books await you.

All good things,

Jason Hafer
@ Wolfgang Books

Good luck to Jason with whatever the future has in store for him.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Really sad to see Wolfgang and the Hand Crafted Cookie Company both closing up. They were both part of what made Bridge St. cool and different. I was a patron of both and I will miss them when they are gone. Thanks to both for the time they were here.
Mike said…
sad news. hope this economy gets better soon, although not sure the book store would have lasted much longer regardless
Anonymous said…
I dispise kindle....
Anonymous said…
OH NO!!! This is really sad news!!! :(
Anonymous said…
The Brick Oven Bread and Cheese Shoppe on Bridge Street is closed too. Hopefully a new owner will take over and reopen. It looks like there might be a prospective buyer for the Handcrafted Cookie shop.

Popular posts from this blog

Local Non-Profit Spotlight: You Are Worth It Foundation

The You Are Worth It Foundation is a grassroots homeless and in-need outreach group from Phoenixville, PA. Around Phoenixville recently asked Chris Brickhouse for some more information about the Foundation and how you can help: Tell us a little about You Are Worth It and how it got started: We are a homeless outreach organizations serving Phoenixville, Pottstown, Norristown, Center City and Kensington in Philly and constantly expanding. We were formed in early 2018 by Dina Rowan and I came on board last June. We have roughly 15 volunteers so far and would like to expand that to expand our reach. We take donated items directly to the people. We provide them with a hot meal and new or lightly used clothing and self-care products. We have long term goals of a mobile shower center, vocational training and assisting with housing in any way possible. What kind of items do you need? We take a wide array of items - individually packaged food, canned goods, ramen, protein bars, water, s