White Rabbit Books closes in downtown Raleigh

After months of waiting for foot traffic that never materialized, White Rabbit Books closed its downtown Raleigh store Tuesday.

The store, which catered to lesbian, gay and transgender customers, was the victim of a slow economy and an ill-timed move, owner Jim Yarbrough said.

White Rabbit Books had been open in downtown Raleigh for more than 22 years, mostly on Martin Street. In January, the store moved to a space on West Hargett Street just below the condominium project Hue.

Once touted as a key piece of downtown's revitalization, Hue never found a market. The building was taken over by its lender in June after the developer failed to sell any of its 208 units.

It has since been converted into rental apartments.

"This building has been a nightmare," Yarbrough said. "There's supposed to be other retail tenants, and that never materialized. That's not what we were told when we moved in here."

White Rabbit was the only tenant to occupy any of the 7,500 square feet of retail space on Hue's ground floor. A local group, Cameron Street Partners, paid a little over $1 million for the five retail spaces in July 2009.

Hue has leased 74 apartments since it was converted to rentals, said Jackie Melnick, a senior vice president with Mid-America Apartment Communities. Mid-America paid $33.6 million for Hue in August.

Yarbrough said he tried everything he could think of to generate sales, opening late at night when more people were downtown and relying on regulars to find their way to the new store.

But in the end, it was not enough. Yarbrough laid off the store's five employees Tuesday.

Most of the books, DVDs, gifts and other items from the Raleigh store will be moved to the company's Charlotte store, which is still in operation.

"For now, this is it in Raleigh," Yarborough said. "I'd love to come back one day. We do have our Charlotte store, and, hopefully. that one will survive."