![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The new owners signed the lease for the storefront on August 26, and will officially take over on September 1. Penn Book Center owners Diana Bellonby and Matthew Duquesĭuquès and Bellonby, who are both academics and are married, were already in the process of moving to Philadelphia, with the intention of opening a bookstore of their own, when they heard about Penn Book Center's plight, Billy Penn reported. "We felt terrible about closing," said Michael Row, "and we are so grateful to the many people who organized to save this wonderful institution-to Penn faculty and students, to our customers, to the Penn real estate folks, and especially to Matt and Diana." Almost immediately, University of Pennsylvania faculty and students rallied around the bookstore, with English professor Chi-ming Yang launching a campaign to save it.įollowing rallies and a petition that garnered more than 5,000 signatures, UPenn, the store's landlord, extended the bookstore's lease through the summer to give Montague and Row more time to figure out ways to keep the store in business. ![]() Matt Duquès and Diana Bellonby have purchased Penn Book Center in Philadelphia, Pa., and will keep the nearly 60-year-old store open.Įarlier this year, the store's previous owners Ashley Montague and Michael Row announced that they could no longer afford to stay in business and would have to close the store at the end of the current academic year. ![]()
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