Name: After 47 years, River Oaks Bookstore to close at the end of the year
Brand: houstonchronicle.com
SKU: houstonchronicle-com-416
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After 47 years, River Oaks Bookstore to close at the end of the year

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateA woman in her 90s may have been one of the oldest of the afternoon regulars at the River Oaks Bookstore. For decades, she arrived around 2 p.m. and spent the afternoon reading on the comfy couches and chairs at the front of the landmark store.Once the pandemic hit, drop-ins like hers all but disappeared. The shop started delivering books and doing curbside pickup to protect its older clientele, among the highest risk for COVID-19. The owners knew the shop’s days were numbered, but the pandemic has forced its final chapter.“Yes, I am heartbroken. Yes, I worry about what comes next. I worry that I will never find another job that fulfills me or brings me the kind of pure joy I feel going to work every day at this bookstore,” Whitney Andrews Corson, event coordinator for the store, wrote in a social media post this weekend announcing River Oaks Bookstore will close by the end of the year.The shop on Westheimer faced the same struggle as independent bookstores across the country. This April, sales plummeted 65 percent compared with April 2019, according to preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.Amazon is usually to blame for most closures. The giant accounts for 64 percent of sales of printed books online, according to a report in the Atlantic magazine. But the reasons for local bookstore closures are more nuanced, said Ed Nawotka, bookselling and international editor for Publishers Weekly, a trade magazine.Stores such as River Oaks Bookstore generally sell full-priced, hardcover books that target older, middle-to-upper class readers, Nawotka said.“Younger readers are not used to paying full price for a book,” Nawotka said.Houston’s sprawl also presents challenges, Nawotka said. Unlike other cities, there isn’t much foot traffic and people don’t just wander into a shop. Stores such as River Oaks Bookstore depend on a loyal customer base, but for most of the year, it’s been too dangerous for customers to go out.More Houston News“They run on the community,” Nawotka said, “and without that, they suffocate.”Jeanne Jard was one of the original founders in 1974. She still helps there but passed down daily operations to her son Michael Jones and his wife, Josie.One night several years ago, Michael and Josie were enjoying a meal at nearby Chuy’s, where they were regulars. They were well acquainted with the staff and usually had the same energetic waitress, Andrews Corson. Her grandmother owned a bookstore, and Andrews Corson always wanted to run her own.“I begged them to hire me,” Andrews Corson said. “I’d say, ‘You have a bookstore — that’s my dream.’”Having worked in the restaurant business, Jones knew he wouldn’t be able to pay her what she made as a waitress. But one day, he made her an offer — once a week she could come help out. She eventually became the events coordinator.Soon, the owners became like family to her. The customers were also considered family, and many of them had known the owners since the shop’s early days. Many would come in just for Jard’s recommendations.“There are people that will walk in this store, and if Jeanne is not here, they will not buy a book,” Andrews Corson said. “People trust her implicitly.”Andrews Corson walked into the empty bookstore, which is now closed on Sundays due to the pandemic, with her 7-year-old daughter who immediately asked, “Can I grab a book now?”As soon as her mother granted permission, the little girl beelined for the children’s section.“That was part of the deal of her coming today,” Andrews Corson said. “She practically grew up in this store.”rebecca.carballo@chron.com

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateA woman in her 90s may have been one of the oldest of the afternoon regulars at the River Oaks Bookstore. For decades, she arrived around 2 p.m. and spent the afternoon reading on the comfy couches and chairs at the front of the landmark store.Once the pandemic hit, drop-ins like hers all but disappeared. The shop started delivering books and doing curbside pickup to protect its older clientele, among the highest risk for COVID-19. The owners knew the shop’s days were numbered, but the pandemic has forced its final chapter.“Yes, I...

After 47 years, River Oaks Bookstore to close at the end of the year

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