Last week, Joseph-Beth Booksellers announced it's closing its store in SouthPark Mall. This week, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Joseph-Beth's financial troubles are no surprise. Last week, the company announced it's shutting down stores in Charlotte and Pittsburgh. And in announcing its bankruptcy filing, the Cincinnati-based company says it will close a store in Cleveland and another in Nashville that operates under the name Davis-Kidd Booksellers. A chapter 11 filing allows the company to try to reorganize. Joseph-Beth cites a weak economy and poor economic forecasts for the first half of 2011 as the reason for the filing. It's a tough time for the bookstore industry. Sales have been on a steady decline as devices like the Kindle have made books easier to read in a digital format. The Association of American Publishers reports that sales of traditional books dropped 12 percent in September from the previous year, while sales of electronic books jumped 158 percent.
Joseph-Beth Files Chapter 11
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