Another book shop closing on Capitol Hill — but this one was planned

There will be another book shop closing on Capitol Hill this June — but this one was planned from the start.

Haunted Burrow Books owner Roxanne Guiney says she is sticking to her plans for the 15th Ave E store to be a brick and mortar experiment.

“HBB has always been a temporary store, and we were thrilled to be here as long as we have been,” Guiney said as she announced a sale to wind the store down into the closure.

The final day of business is planned for June 21st.

Across the street, book lovers are also losing a longer-term part of the 15th Ave E retail and reading scene as Ada’s Technical Books and Cafe is closing down after 16 years of business on Capitol Hill and 13 on the street. The final day of business at Ada’s is planned for June 6th.

CHS visited with Guiney and Haunted Burrow last summer as she brought her offerings of “horror, dark fantasy, sci-fi, and other moody genres” into brick and mortar form in the empty commercial space destined for eventual demolition and redevelopment on 15th Ave E. The store was a temporary retail experiment for the horror and dark fantasy book shop after growing the business with flea markets and online sales.

With the QFC block redevelopment still in a holding pattern with developer Hunters Capital, a new temporary tenant can soon fill the Haunted Burrow space. The neighboring old grocery lives on, in the meantime, as the also temporary home for the Punk Rock Flea Market.

The Ada’s closure will also add new empty space on the street. Ada’s owner Danielle Hulton is retaining ownership of the property and said she is seeking a new tenant for the bookshop and cafe space. Next door, the long-empty former Coastal Kitchen building remains dark and quiet despite assurances to CHS heading into the year from the folks at Fire Tacos Cantina that they were ready to finally move forward with their plans to open on the street.

Another empty Ada’s neighbor has been filed as the former Casita shop was transformed last year into the new Mac and Milo’s Barbershop.

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month — or choose your level of support