Barnes & Noble will close Jenkintown store at end of 2012

The Barnes & Noble in Jenkintown's Noble Square shopping center, a landmark that for decades has anchored a vibrant retail hub on Old York Road, will close at year's end after the bookseller declined to extend its lease, the landlord said Thursday.

The decision marks the end of a 20-year relationship and reflects the company's ongoing efforts to consolidate brick-and-mortar operations, said Bruce Goodman, whose Goodman Properties had hoped to retain the tenant for at least five more years.

"We were hoping they were going to keep this Jenkintown store open," Goodman said, adding that he and the New York corporation had enjoyed "a great run."

A corporate spokesman did not return a call seeking comment. Goodman said no deal had been made with a replacement tenant.

Barnes & Noble's lease expires in January, and the company told Goldman a year in advance it did not plan to exercise an option to extend it. The reason: A larger store a few miles away near Willow Grove Park mall made bundling all operations there attractive, Goodman said.

Book chains have been closing stores for several years as store revenue has fallen and sales of digital books, tablets, and e-readers have risen.

The landlord nonetheless hoped to strike a rent-break deal sweet enough to change the company's mind.

"Obviously, they needed relief," Goodman said. "I was willing to give it, but it didn't matter."

In June, talks fell through, even though it had seemed to Goodman that a deal was close. "Truthfully," he said, "I thought we were there."