Kroch's Closing Flagship Store on South Wabash

Kroch's & Brentano's, a Chicago bookstore institution since 1907,said today it will close its flagship store at 29 S. Wabash withintwo months.

Kroch's, which has been whittled to five stores from 20 in thepast two years, also will close its Oak Park store.

"We've not been able to make it into a profitable operation,"said William Rickman, president and chief executive, of the twostores. "We've seen the Loop become less a destination shoppingdistrict over the last decade. More importantly, with every openingof one of these chain stores, there's a little nick taken away. Overtime, the nicks add up."

The Wabash store, which opened in 1952 when Kroch's andBrentano's bookstores combined under one roof, has not beenprofitable since the late 1980s, Rickman said.

The merchant will continue operating its three profitableChicago stores - at 516 N. Michigan, 30 N. La Salle and 1530 E. 53rd.

But the fate of the North Michigan Avenue store also is inlimbo. A Nordstrom-anchored mall has been proposed on that block,and the project would likely displace Kroch's.

Businesship International, a Florida-based holding company thatacquired Kroch's in late 1993, said it still is looking for asuburban location to construct a new prototype for Kroch's.