Fineprint

INCURSION: Should the Book Trader become an Abercrombie & Finch as expected next year, the corner of Fifth and South will be chain-laden. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Less words, more story.

by Peter Woodall

Where Do All the Yuppies Meet?

The Book Trader, one of the last survivors from South Street’s more bohemian era, is due to close up its shop on South by February after 29 years in business.

Alas, it seems that preppy clothier Abercrombie & Fitch will replace the cluttered warren of used books and music, according to the store's longtime owner, Peter Hiler. In fact, Hiler says Abercrombie & Fitch has already started measuring the store for remodeling. (The owner of the building is Aaron Shapiro, of Aaron's King of Mattresses fame, whose attorney, Seymour Rubin, said last week that a deal isn't complete and would not confirm that Abercrombie is the prospective tenant.)

In discussing the death of a literary institution, Hiler says he's been using profits from his other bookstores to help pay the two-story building's $10,000-plus monthly rent. But during the past few years, he says, Book Trader's business has dwindled to the point where the other stores can't cover its losses.

He says business started declining about 15 years ago as South Street started attracting a younger crowd. And it only got worse after the Mardi Gras riot in 2001.

If Abercrombie & Fitch moves in, national chains will occupy all four corners at Fifth and South. (Gap, Gap Kids and Johnny Rockets are at the same intersection. Not far away are Subway, McDonald's and KFC/Taco Bell.) Considering the street's history, that borders on sacrilege.

Gray Smith, an architect and a past president of the South Street Neighborhood Association, says South Street doesn't need any more chain stores.

"If you put in an Abercrombie & Fitch, it just starts eating away at the uniqueness of the place," Smith says. "Put it on Walnut Street. That's where it belongs."

Michael Samschick, chairman of the South Street Headhouse District, was more sanguine about Abercrombie’s possible arrival. "We are truly sorry to see [Book Trader] go," he says. "But if you’re going to lose them, let it be to a quality operation."

Although South Street is losing a bookstore, Philadelphia won't be. Hiler plans to open a new store near Second and Market streets, and to expand his Bainbridge Street shop.