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After a nine-year run, Wyn Morris, owner of The Morris Book Shop, bids farewell to the store as it sets to close for good on Jan. 30, 2017.
“I’m at peace with the whole thing,” said Morris. “At this point, it’s what needs to happen.”
Starting in 2008 on Southland Drive, the bookstore gained tremendous momentum among local book lovers before moving to its new location in Chevy Chase five years ago.
“Early on, we didn’t realize how long it had been since there was a medium sized, general interest, independent bookstore in Lexington,” said Morris. “It’s incredible that we made it as long as we did.”
Morris, who has been involved in publishing and bookselling for 25 years, said he wanted to provide a welcoming atmosphere, authoritative selection and prompt, friendly service, while adding the modern conveniences of online orders and reservations, fast turnaround times for special orders and community-minded content.
Suffering financial losses for the past few years, Morris dedicated the last 5 months to searching for a potential buyer for the store. He said he met with dozens of “potential buyers” and spoke in depth with a couple, but ultimately it ended up being an inability to get funding that forced the offers to fall through, not cold feet.
“I think that any one of those people I talked to would have succeed here in a thousand different ways,” said Morris. “They had great ideas.”
Wyn Morris
After 25 years in the publishing and bookselling business – including nine years owning the Morris Book Shop – owner Wyn Morris is closing the doors to the beloved Chevy Chase shop at the end of January.
Morris said that since the announcement, he and the bookshop have received an outpouring of support via social media. Community embrace has been a driving force behind the success of The Morris Book Shop for nearly a decade.
“It sounds strange in the context of closing the store because it wasn't profitable, but the way the community has embraced us in every way, that’s what I am really going to miss,” said Morris.
A large part of Morris’ community support was based on his focus on local authors, artists and musicians. The bookstore not only acted as a platform to sell books, but a venue for young musicians, poets and authors to share their work. Morris often hosted local readings and book signings, and provided live music at every anniversary celebration for nine years.
“Those were some of my most memorable moments – the ones that didn’t have anything to do with books,” he said.
Morris says he plans to continue with the holidays as normal, then see what is left to be sold in the final month of activity for the store, being January. He said he plans to have bargains, and ideally sell everything down to the walls.
“I feel like I owe it to the customers to be a Christmas destination for books,” said Morris.
Although surprised by how quickly word has spread through the community, Morris said he is happy to see the influence the store has had on the community.
“This has been my only sane business decision for a while. It feels good to finally have it all out in the open.”