Politics & Government
Barnes & Noble Site on City Commission Agenda Monday
Royal Oak officials will tackle a request to transfer a liquor license and motel occupancy limitations when they meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall.
At their 7:30 p.m. regular meeting at City Hall Monday, Royal Oak officials are expected to discuss a variety of matters.
Future of Barnes & Noble site
SV One, Inc. would like to do business at 500 S. Main Street — the Barnes & Noble site — as SV Italian Eatery but the Royal Oak Police Department will oppose the transfer of a Class C license, according to Chief Corrigan O'Donohue.
"The concept is a 270-seat Italian restaurant and night club on the first floor and office space on the second floor," said O'Donohue.
SV One needs approval from city commissioners to transfer a liquor license from the former Fiddleheads Restaurant. The developer will also ask for a catering permit, dance permit, one additional bar permit and an outdoor eating permit, according to police.
"The area is already congested with three large establishments with similar formats, BlackFinn (capacity 392 patrons), 526/Tequila Blue (capacity 310 patrons) and Bastone (capacity 422 patrons). So many large venues in close proximity will likely cause a significant strain to police resources," states the police report.
Bar or books?
Royal Oak Patch readers chimed in on 500 S. Main Street and the fate of Barnes & Noble last week.
- Cindy La Ferle: "I will be so disappointed to see Barnes & Noble leave Royal Oak. There are so few bookstores left."
- Ed Callahan: "B&N was the only reason I ever went downtown. Downtown is basically a destination for people from out of town for the most part."
- Maria Tierney Koehn: "If this would fall through for the developer, what would be interesting to see at the site would be upscale boutiques."
- Jack Manning: "Evidently the landlord has landed a bigger fish than B&N for this location."
In January, Barnes & Noble company executives told the Wall Street Journal they planned to close 20 stores a year over the next decade.
If no new Barnes and Noble stores were opened, that would reduce the number of Barnes & Noble stores nationwide by a third, the Huffington Post reported.
Since 2003, the company has been closing 15 stores a year, but they've also been opening more than 30 a year.
Find out what's happening in Royal Oakwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Last year, however, Barnes & Noble closed 14 stores and didn't open any, the Huffington Post reported.
Rival bookstore chain Borders also struggled, closing hundreds of stores nationwide, including the one in nearby Birmingham when the company declared bankruptcy in 2011.
Find out what's happening in Royal Oakwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
One reason for the faltering of the bookstore giants is a steady decline in book sales. Print book sales have decreased 22 percent over the past five years, according to Nielsen BookScan.
Other agenda items
- Pizzeria Biga (711 South Main Street) request to change Plan of Operation
- Fifth Avenue Billiards (215 West Fifth Avenue) request to Change Plan of Operation
- Standard Resolution #5 Special Assessment Paving of North Alexander
- Hotel/Motel Occupancy Limitation Ordinance, second reading
- Limited Area Groundwater Ordinance, first reading
- Hotel Motel application fee recommendation
- Request to fill vacancies of three firefighters
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