Photos courtesy Kennedy's Wildcat Den
When the owners of Kennedy’s Wildcat Den sent out a heartfelt announcement on Sunday that the store—a longtime fixture on the University of Kentucky’s campus—would be closing for good on December 22 after more than 65 years in business, the response was immediate and swift.
By Monday morning, more than 130 orders were waiting on the business’ ecommerce website—enough to crash the site. A steady stream of customers flowed in and out of the store throughout the day as well, many of them taking advantage of a 40 percent markdown on merchandise.
“Yesterday was incredible. I think we sold half the store,” said general manager Carol Kennedy Behr. “Everybody is sad we’re closing. They’re taking advantage of the sale—I understand that—but we’ve also heard a lot of nice stories and memories.”
Kennedy's founder Joe Kennedy
Behr’s father, Joe Kennedy, founded Kennedy Book Store, as it was then called, in 1950 in a rented building at 409 S. Limestone. When an adjacent bowling alley closed, Kennedy purchased the building and expanded the bookstore into the space. He later purchased several additional properties and slowly grew Kennedy’s footprint.
"His philosophy was ‘if it’s around here, buy it,’” Behr said. “And that’s served us well over the years.”
Even as the store’s business has slowed—Behr says Kennedy’s has operated in the red for the past several years, citing the impact of online book and merchandise sales, as well as increased local competition and the reopening of the University of Kentucky Bookstore in the newly remodeled UK Student Center next year—its owners have reinvested in the business and sought ways to keep the doors open.
“We’ve tried to adapt, but it’s such a changing industry,” Behr said. “I mean, what hasn’t changed?”
Kennedy’s has offered online book sales with in-store pick up for several years, as well as a semester-long rental option for books. The store was also reorganized to place clothing and other merchandise front and center.
1 of 10
The original Kennedy Book Store location
2 of 10
Joe Kennedy with longtime manager John C. ‘Butch’ Butcher
3 of 10
4 of 10
5 of 10
6 of 10
7 of 10
8 of 10
9 of 10
Spouses, including the wives of founder Joe Kennedy and manager John C. ‘Butch’ Butcher, often pitched in to work during the book rush at the beginning of each semester.
10 of 10
Behr also cites a new licensing fee agreement with Nike as limiting the profitability and selection of merchandise the store could stock, as well as the planned reopening of the University of Kentucky Bookstore in a renovated student center, as contributing factors in the decision to close.
“After last fall’s book rush and with the internet being what it is, I sat down with our assistant manager to pay the bills and said, ‘this isn’t going to work much longer,’ ” Behr said.
When the Fazoli’s restaurant located behind Kennedy’s closed last December, the property’s owner, who lives in Florida, called Behr to let her know that she intended to sell the property.
“I said ‘let’s figure out a way to do this together,’” Behr said.
“We’ve lasted longer than a lot of other private bookstores … and we’re in a better spot than some, because No. 1, we owned the land, and No. 2, we have the Fan Shop [a brick-and-mortar store in London, Kentucky] and the ecommerce site.”
This past April, Kennedy’s owners signed a deal with Core Campus Investment Partners to sell the property for an undisclosed amount. She informed Kennedy’s employees of the impending sale in early May.
“They weren’t shocked; they’d seen the sales go down,” Behr said.
Then, in June, it was announced that Core Campus Investment Partners had entered into an agreement with UK to swap the land with another nearby parcel owned by the university.
“I was not aware of that before it happened. It was very unfortunate timing,” Behr said. “We’ll still get our money, but it won’t be the development that I envisioned.”