Big Sleep Books closing? Not so fast!

I realized something was up when I stopped in to say goodbye to proprietor Ed King, above, following the announcement that Big Sleep Books was closing after a 27-year run at 234 N. Euclid. While I was there, Ed was hemming and hawing, throwing in a few asides like "I can't talk about it"; there couldn't have been a bigger clue that there was a story percolating here.

When I ran into him recently, I learned that King has taken a complete u-turn and is charging back into the mystery-book business, but this time with a twist. As he said, "Everybody in retail, from Macy's on down, is searching for a new dynamic since they're all being hurt by internet sales. Maybe they're adding services, or a kids play area, anything clever they can think of to get business in the door."

Being the crusty old bookstore that it was, Big Sleep came up shorter than short in web presence with a website that was woefully inadequate. Honestly, that was part of the bookstore's charm. But the store was barely surviving simply on sales from loyal customers, many of whom are international travelers who stay at The Chase Hotel.

If you've walked by recently, you've noticed that the shop windows are covered. Within several months there will be a new name and a completely renovated space, "I want this shop to be as classy-looking as other businesses in the neighborhood," King said. And here's the corker, the big reveal, so to speak: King is combining his two big loves, spy books and wine, and adding an 8-seat wine bar in the northwest corner of the tiny storefront. In the newly-designed space, customers will also find spy-themed dvds playing on a small screen.

"Literature and wine," King continued, "is a natural." There are mystery/wine shops in Paris, Prague, and Edinburgh, and soon, in the Central West End.

King knows a thing or two – or three – about wine. He has a serious collection of French wines, and loves the history behind the families who produce them. In a few  years he hopes to serve wine produced from cabernet franc grapes he's cultivating on his grandfather's farm in outstate Missouri.

What an exciting comeback for a neighborhood business started by King's late father, Chris, and King's partner Helen Simpson's late husband, Peter, 27 years ago. Never Say Die when there's a will to survive.