The Book Scene in Houston has closed their doors permanently. The Phoenix Bookstore in Laredo has closed their storefront but continues to operate online. The Barnes & Noble concept store at Legacy West has closed.

The Book Scene made a final Facebook post on June 2:

“The Book Scene, 1820 West 43rd and Rosslyn is officially CLOSED!

We want to thank all of you who came by to wish us well on our second retirement.

The bookstore was a dream and the years it was open it lived up to that dream. Circumstances and the Corona Virus just was the last hit to take.

We met the nicest people, and here at the end this community came and made our last days the best ever!

We will miss you all and thank you for being not just friends but family.

Blessings to you and we hope the best for you all!”

The Phoenix Bookstore in Laredo, which just opened last December, has closed their storefront, but they are still operating online at bookshop.org and at libro.fm. Phoenix also made the announcement in a Facebook post. Owners Margarita Govea and Jose Cantu wrote:

"Today we are saddened to say that we will soon close our doors for business at our current location of 1602 Victoria. As much as we love our historical venue and downtown Laredo it is no longer financially feasible for us to continue operating out of it. We will remain open for the time being as we place our building up for lease and find new tenants. It has been our pleasure to welcome you into our beautiful historical home and to offer you book recommendations."

 

They hope to open a new storefront in the future, but those plans have been put on hold by the virus. The historic building that Phoenix used to operate from is now on the market for lease.

While the bookstore's "primary function was serving books to the community, it was also a functioning cafe and a hub for musical performances, open mic poetry, art classes and more," the Laredo Morning Times reported. "With restrictions in place to limit social gatherings, as well as having to close to foot traffic during stay-at-home orders enacted in Laredo and throughout the state, the bookstore seems to be another casualty of the Covid pandemic."

Barnes & Noble has closed its concept store in Plano. The location, which opened in 2017, combined a bookstore with a full-service bar and restaurant and was the fourth B&N Kitchen concept store to be rolled out.

In a statement confirming the closure, B&N stated: "The store and restaurant were well received by customers and we have appreciated their support. However, we have made the difficult decision to close the store to focus energy and resources on improving our other bookstores in Texas and around the country, as well as opening new stores."

The store had been closed since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the company said it has been working with booksellers who wanted to transfer to another Texas store. Most B&N locations have reopened since roughly four hundred were closed earlier this spring.

Elliott Management, the hedge fund that also owns Waterstones, purchased B&N in 2019. The B&N Kitchen stores were an initiative started by the previous management.