Classical Choice to close Saturday, move downtown

The store is being forced to move to make way for a new Wharton building on The Book Store's site. After seven years of providing University City with a diverse selection of jazz and classical music, Classical Choice is moving downtown. Owned and operated by Penn graduates, the store will officially close its doors tomorrow and move to a new location at 122 S. 21st Street, in the Rittenhouse Square area of Center City, according to owner Howard Gensler. The new location -- three times the size of the old one -- will open March 1. Classical Choice is one of the stores in The Book Store building on the 3700 block of Walnut Street being forced out to make way for a new, 300,000-square-foot facility for the Wharton School. The University announced the decision to demolish the building in November 1996, and the building is set to come down this fall. The new Barnes and Noble University Bookstore is scheduled to open this summer in the Sansom Common complex currently under construction on the 3600 block of Walnut Street. Although the University offered the store a spot on the 200 block of South 40th Street -- in the former location of the Division of Public Safety's Special Services Unit -- Gensler said the Center City space was far more affordable. While the University asked a rent of $17.50 per square foot per year, the space on 21st Street rented for $15 per square foot. In addition, the University requested 6 percent of the store's sales above $200,000 per year, said Gensler, a member of The Daily Pennsylvanian Alumni Association Board of Directors. Gensler added that the University planned to give him the space in the "as is" position, leaving it up to Gensler to knock down the "huge partitions and windows" left from the former tenants. "It made their offer much more expensive than the Center City rent," he said. Penn Managing Director of Real Estate Tom Lussenhop would only say last night that the University offered Gensler "a variety of spaces in a variety of locations." "In each location, we tried to put forth a set of economic terms that were mutually accessible," Lussenhop said. "But he found more favorable terms in another location." Initially, the University offered Gensler a third of the former Sam Goody site in the 3401 Walnut Street complex. However, at $31 per square foot, Gensler said he could not accept the offer. Classical Choice, which originally opened seven years ago in the basement of Houston Hall, has been located at 3736 Walnut Street for the past 3 1/2 years, Gensler said. Gensler said he moved out several months ahead of the scheduled demolition because the owners of the Center City property told him they would rent the space to someone else if Gensler did not act fast. Classical Choice is one of three music stores that will leave or are likely to leave campus this year because of building closings or demolition. CDs to Go will leave Houston Hall when the building closes for renovations this summer, and Vibes Music will leave The Book Store building. Lussenhop said University officials hope to temporarily fill Gensler's space with a store, a Penn office or recreational space. "I think it's the wrong choice to leave because this is an interesting time for retail in University City," Lussenhop said. "I wish him well."