Northern Wisconsin Store to Close  

By Claire Kirch -- Publishers Weekly, 10/31/2007 6:41:00 AM

Ten years after opening its doors in the port town of Superior, Wisc., J.W. Beecroft Books & Coffee is closing for business at the end of December. J.W. Beecroft's closing will leave Superior, the largest city in northern Wisconsin, without a bookstore, although neighboring Duluth, Minn. boasts two independents and one Barnes & Noble store.

Janet Murphy, co-owner, with her husband, John, said that J.W. Beecroft will begin selling books at a 50% discount on November 5, and continue to do so through the holiday season. Murphy, who reported that sales have been steady this year, said that she and her husband want to “explore other possibilities and travel.” Rather than selling their 5,400-square-foot store to any of their 14 employees, or to somebody who may not “run it in the manner we did and continue it in the way we did,” she said, the couple opted to simply close its doors and sell the building, after liquidating the store's inventory.