San Mateo's B Street Books to leave downtown location due to business boom
In business for 16 years in San Mateo, there are many chapters to B Street Books' story. In the one currently being written, there is a lot to unpack and a lot for owner Lewis Cohen to pack up.
"We have 40,000 books to pack up," he said. "All the bookcases that you see need to be moved, and it all has to be done in an organized fashion so it's not too much of a mess on the other end."
He's made the tough decision to leave downtown San Mateo, not for a lack of business or foot traffic, but rather, he's a casualty of the surrounding business boom.
"It's tough," he said.
He said the building changed hands before the end of his lease. He's been month-to-month, and the landlord informed him he was upping the rent.
"Like, triple what we are paying," he said. "It's just not in the cards. I really like the store, but I wasn't going to go bankrupt to try and pay the landlord."
There's a tricky plot twist to this story: Cohen has been an active business leader in downtown San Mateo's post-pandemic revitalization efforts.
"It is ironic that we've been a part of making things better and bringing things back after COVID, and now we're having to move because we can't afford the rent," Cohen said. "The buildings that have changed hands have new owners, they paid a lot of money for their buildings, they're expecting to get high rents, and it's forcing a lot of businesses like mine out."
It's tough for Mackenzie Jakoubek, the Executive Director of the Downtown San Mateo Association, to see B Street Books depart the downtown landscape.
"Mostly sadness. It is absolutely a key business for our downtown," she said. "It's going to be missed quite a bit, and Lew himself is going to be very missed."
That said, she said the landscape is changing.
"There's nostalgia here, but there is also progress," she said. "I think we're having a hot moment. I think we're pretty popular right now and I don't take that for granted."
The city saw the completion of one major development in the last few years, she said, and several more are in the works. And within the last week or so, she said multiple new places have opened up, including restaurants and retail spaces.
"We don't have a ton of vacancies," Jakoubek said. "I asked the city the other day and they said we have about 3%. Any other building you see that is empty is due for redevelopment."
B Street Books' last day in business in San Mateo will be Monday, April 21. However, the story doesn't end here. Cohen said he's relocating the shop to 1471 Burlingame Ave. in Burlingame.
"A lot of my customers have indicated that they will be following us," he said.
Cohen said he was able to get a deal for a long-term lease at a rate that worked for everyone involved.
"I'm cautiously optimistic that we're going to do well there," he said.
Gena McNutt, his co-author to this chapter, is eager to help write the next one in Burlingame.
"It's exciting. There's obviously a lot to be doing in the next couple of weeks," she said.
While some in his position could have seen this as the end of the story, Cohen wasn't ready to call it the final chapter.
"It is a labor of love," he said.
So, for now, he'll close this one with: to be continued.
