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As many as 50 former Books etc employees braved the icy conditions to join the chain's two founders Richard and Philip Joseph last night (21st) for the Books etc "wake" held at the Cittie of Yorke public house in central London.
Publishers from Quadrille, Faber, Random House and the British Library gathered to pay their final respects to the chain.
The last Books etc shop closed at 5:22pm on Saturday 19th December, when Adam Hewson manager of the Fulham Broadway branch that was "officially a Books etc although trading as Borders Express" locked the doors for customers for the last time.
Richard">http://www.thebookseller.com/news/107480-mcr-rejected-richard-joseph-bid... Joseph, who had told The Bookseller only hours earlier that his final bid for "a bunch of stores" had been rejected by administrator MCR, was a surprise attendee along with his father. Both had already sent their apologies, but Richard Joseph decided to attend after coming to the UK from the US—where he runs a publisher Arcadia—in order to negotiate direct with the administrator.
The younger Joseph reiterated his earlier claim that he had made a "serious attempt" to buy a number of stores, with "lots of 0s" attached, but that MCR had proved to be implacable. That, it was implied, was the best polite term that could be used.
Hewson told The Bookseller that the first of the final shops to close was Broadgate, followed by Solihull, then Bicester & Whiteleys. Wimbledon closed the weekend of the 12th, Victoria Street & Victoria Place mid week. Hammersmith closed on the 17th and finally Fulham on the 19th. "After clearing out the shop of detritus, the lights finally were finally switched on Book etc just gone noon on Monday 21st." Of the managers, he added, half have jobs to go to.
The rest of the shops in the Borders group shut their doors for the final time today (22nd) a month after it went into administration.