Atlantic Books Stores to Close This Fall

, an institution in Jersey Shore towns, is closing its two Ocean City Boardwalk locations this fall, along with its other beach stores.

Employees were told the news a week before bright yellow signs declaring "Store Closing. Everything Must Go." were mounted Thursday in the windows of the stores in the and blocks of the Ocean City Boardwalk.

But on the eve of a mandatory evacuation for Hurricane Irene, no one paid attention to the 25-percent-off sale until businesses reopened on Monday.

The stores in Stone Harbor, Cape May and Beach Haven, and two stores in Delaware beach towns are closing, too.

"It does break my heart," owner Mark Simon said. "I love to read."

But after 35 years in business and 30 years in Ocean City, Simon said he had to face reality.

"We just looked at it and said there is no possible way we can expect a realistic return on our investment. The plug should have been pulled two years ago," he said by phone Wednesday evening. "The short part of it is, the retail book business is on the decline because of the Internet, e-books and a lot of other competition."

Simon also mentioned "extraordinarily high" Boardwalk rents among the factors he took into consideration in making his decision to close the stores.

Shoppers at both Ocean City stores commiserated Wednesday with Atlantic Books staff members, and many lamented the personal touch that will disappear with the stores. Even the competition expressed regret at the stores’ passing.

"I feel badly," said Rosalyn Lifshin, co-owner of in the 700 block of Asbury Avenue. "I think Atlantic Books has been a good book store in town, and I hate to see them leave."

The closing of the stores, which Simon projects will happen in late September to early October, presents an opportunity to Sun Rose's owners. "It's bittersweet," said Sun Rose co-owner Nancy Miller of the news that Atlantic Books' departure will leave the independent book store as the town's only remaining source for book sales. "I hate the fact a book store is closing because it means people are relying on electronic readers."

"Technology" is the one-word answer an employee in the 800 block store gave to a caller to the store, who asked the question, "What's happening?"

"Amazon, Kindle, e-reader" were all said with a tinge of disgust by those who love the printed word. The conversations that are spawned by a visit to a book store, the feel of a book in hand, the smell of freshly printed pages being flipped through, these are things that cannot be replicated by an online service or a battery-operated device, Atlantic Books employees said.

Miller at Sun Rose holds out hope that enough book-loving people will trickle off the Boardwalk and find her store in the heart of the city's downtown shopping district. "There is always going to be a segment of the population that wants to handle books," she said. "I think we're good for another many years, until a future generation comes along that has never handled books."

"It is what it is," said Simon, who, at 62 years old, has seen the demise of other entertainment forms and the inevitability of his own. "It happened to music, it happened to videos, and it's happening to books. It's treated me well, I'll say that. But it's time to move on."