After over a hundred years in Paris, Brentano's, the American bookstore located at 37 avenue de l'Opera, has shut its doors.

The company has a simple note on display in the window which reads:

Dear Clients,

We regret to inform our faithful customers that Brentano's bookstore is in liquidation since Friday June 12th 2009 and is no longer trading.

Thank you for your support over the years,

the Brentano's staff

Talk about surprise.

Word on the street is that the French landlord, BNP Paribas, wanted to raise the rent from 75,000€ to 200,000€ (for 400 square meters). Brentano's lost the appeal and thus, have closed the doors.

Luckily, we've still got the English bookstore W.H. Smith, but still....it's too bad. Bretano's was emblematic of American culture here in Paris. A place we expats called "home", a place we looked forward to going. Will they open another store in Paris? It doesn't read like they will, but who knows. Maybe they'll suprise us.

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