It wasn't just its location, at 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue, that placed Outwrite Bookstore and Coffeehouse in the heart of Atlanta's LGBT community.
Last May, when store owner Philip Rafshoon informed customers of Outwrite's precarious financial situation, sales increased and attendance at book signings and special events spiked.
Not enough, it turns out.
The bookstore closed for good Wednesday, victim of a stagnant economy that's been particularly challenging to those who trade in the printed page.
Outwrite had little choice but to shutter, store owner Philip Rafshoon has said. The store's lease expires at the end of the month.
In a December interview, Rafshoon told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Our landlord didn't really raise our rent that much, but we need to find a heck of a lot cheaper space or a heck of a lot more customers."
It's a fate that's befallen booksellers large -- such as Borders, the national chain forced to liquidate last summer -- and independent. Last year also saw the closing of another iconic gay bookstore, A Different Light, in San Francisco after 32 years.
In the note to customers posted on Outwrite's website, Rafshoon took pride in the store's success.
"As an independent bookstore and coffeehouse focused on the LGBT community, Outwrite has served as a symbol of strength and diversity in this city; and we have helped create a vibrant, pedestrian environment in Midtown," he wrote.
"While it is a challenging economy and the bookselling industry is rapidly evolving, there is still a need for neighborhoods with a strong LGBT presence and independent bookstores serving communities throughout the world."
When Outwrite opened a little more than 18 years ago in the Midtown Promenade shopping center, Rafshoon said he hoped the city's first gay and lesbian bookstore would develop into "a community center and an alternative to the bars."
The store has been in its present location since 1996.
When Outwrite announced its intent to relocate last November, Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, told the AJC, "It is a very visible intersection and it has become a natural gathering place for folks in the LGBT community, specifically when we have had times to really celebrate as a community."
But, as Rafshoon alluded in his note to customers, the funding just wasn't there.
“Unfortunately, we have run out of time and money to make that transformation,” he wrote.
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