Who's to Blame When a Local Business Closes?

The Tens heard Adobe Books here might be under the gun. The Tens is upset:

Occasionally when a local business closes, I have no one to blame but myself (sorry Palace Steak House, I kept meaning to go). This one however, I blame on you. You as in the royal you, is that a thing? Like y’all. But not any of you in particular, just you generally. ¡Ustedes! Fuck, English sucks.

Read on.

Photo by douglemoine.

P.S. Who thinks more book stores should organize their books by color?

13 Responses to “Who's to Blame When a Local Business Closes?”

  1. doogie says:

    Unfortunate.

    That said, Adobe is very disorganized and cramped. Organized and cramped is fine. Disorganized and cramped is uninviting. Finding what you were or were not looking for is a task.

    That the article cites organizing the books by color and Joanna Newsom performing there as reasons to mourn the pending closing pretty much sums it up. Shouldn’t a bookstore be remembered for its inventory?

    • MrEricSir says:

      Do you really go to a used bookstore to find a specific book?

      • SFDoggy says:

        I often go into a used book store because I am interested in a certain author; or while browsing I will see an author’s name and look at what selection they have. I have never gone into a bookstore to find a book of a certain color, so, yeah, their organizational method seems lacking.

        • Dahlia Fully says:

          Reorganizing the books by color was a brilliant (literally!) and iconic installation by Chris Cobb. That said, the organization at Adobe was iconically haphazard. But that sort of mind numbing book blitz is what makes so many used bookstores so much fun. You find things you wouldn’t have looked for. You happen upon them because they were misplaced in a pile of poetry. The majority of the store was well organized. The selection was intense. San Francisco in the 2013 edition is too scrubbed and self-conscious for its own good. The great thing about the City was its funk, its dare to explore, to look again at the overlooked, to linger, to go out of one’s way to enjoy one’s self. That what Adobe is all about. A modest place with a lot of soul. Yes, please save it. And don’t clean it up. All hail Andrew.

      • MrEricSir says:

        If you actually WENT to Adobe Books, you’d know that their books aren’t organized by color. That was a one-time thing for an art project.

  2. delicate fleur says:

    Books organized by color are OK for photo spreads in magazines. Not for real life.

  3. james says:

    I think English for ustedes is “all y’all”

  4. Rhiannon says:

    Palace Steak House was rad and we went there twice a month. Great steak, a potato, salad and a roll, plus a coke, for 12 bucks? couldn’t beat it. Too bad they didn’t pass on the business before they retired to enjoy their grandkids (which is what Marina told me was the reason they closed)…

    Maybe they need a protege? Why didn’t Commonwealth open there?

  5. I hope they turn it into a Curves.

  6. Cranky Old Mission Guy says:

    Actually, I blame Adobe Books… because they opened at 12 Noon. Look, your mileage is certain to vary, but I work nights, and all my leisure time is in the morning. I’m pretty sure that browsing books at Midnight is low on the list of priorities for most o’you day people. Me, I have a lot of books, and I buy a lot of books, but I buy from stores that are open at 10 or 10:30 or 11 AM. When I could prop my eyelids open, I would buy at Adobe, but usually, it really isn’t that far to Dog Eared or Aardvark.

  7. SomeStreet says:

    Can we agree that Adobe is worth it so Bird can keep a place to type and print his delusional rants?

    Some of us believe in physical blogs, after all. (FYI: assuming “newsletters” are taken, I call “Plogs”).

  8. Glen Danzig's Prius says:

    It’s not Bird it’s Swan.

  9. Adam Gutterman says:

    Went to Adobe tonight. Confirmed that they are NOT closing. A couple of art projects that features tag lines like “Everything must go!” and whatnot must have led to the rumor. They’re doing just fine apparently.