The Book Rack at 3501 Dayton Blvd. in Red Bank was due to close Wednesday after some 40 years in business.The Book Rack on Dayton Boulevard in Red Bank closed Wednesday after some 40 years in business.
The popularity of e-readers helped kill the bookstore that had an inventory of some 50,000 books, mostly paperbacks, including a large selection of romance novels.
“E-readers are what’s doing me in,” said Helen Aiken, who has owned the store for three years. “They’re giving e-readers to grade-school kids now.”
Aiken believes the Book Rack is the Chattanooga-area’s oldest bookstore. She had worked at the bookstore for three years when longtime owner Linda Balis sold it to her three years ago for $1.
“We met at the bank, and I gave her $1,” Aiken said.