Springfield bookstores closing

Two Springfield bookstores are closing their doors.

With the closure announcements from BookMarx and Half Price Books of the Ozarks Inc., Springfield is down at least three bookstores in 2019. Uriel’s Unusual Bookstore LLC shuttered earlier in the year.

BookMarx, which was launched by Aubrey Prugger and Josh Arnett in 2014 at 325 E. Walnut St., announced closure plans via Facebook.

“This is the third bookstore I have closed out … and I look forward to one day closing a fourth because much like with adopting cat after cat, I'll never learn,” Josh Arnett wrote in the Nov. 8 Facebook post.

BookMarx, located in the former Good Girl Art and known for its unofficial cat mascot, is the most recent book venture for Arnett, whose family owned the now shuttered Book Castle, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

It’s unclear when BookMarx will close, and the Facebook post did not give a reason. The store currently is liquidating its inventory, according to the Facebook post. Arnett could not be reached for comment by deadline.

With more than three decades in business, Half Price Books of the Ozarks scheduled a Nov. 30 going-out-of-business sale as owners Kathy and Tom Ross prepare to retire, according to a Facebook post.

The Rosses purchased the 1950 S. Glenstone Ave. bookstore in 2002, according to SBJ archives.

Uriel’s Unusual Bookstore had operated at 301 E. Commercial St. before closing around a year into business. According to the Drury Mirror, Nicholas Hale opened the bookstore in August 2018. Hale’s wife in September told SBJ the store had closed as Hale faced an illness.

While some bookstores are closing, Pagination Bookshop LLC opened for business April 29 at 1150 E. Walnut St., according to SBJ reporting.