U., Penn Bookcenter still at odds over lease

"Thirty percent off all books!" reads the sign in the Penn Book Center's window. Inside the 30-year-old store on the 3700 block of Walnut Street, understocked shelves, liquidation-priced books and haphazard shelving all scream "Going out of Business." But appearances can be deceiving, and the Book Center is still hoping to be at Penn come September, albeit in a new location. Its current home will be demolished August 14, making way for a new Wharton School building. The store remains locked in contentious negotiations with University City Associates -- Penn's for-profit real estate arm -- for a lease for the former location of Sam Goody in the 3401 Walnut Street complex. The parties remain at odds over several issues, including what Achilles Nickles, the store's owner, characterized as key financial components of the lease. UCA Managing Director John Greenwood was unavailable for comment. But the August 14 deadline is not the only one bearing down on the negotiators. Nickles says he is running out of time -- the end of May at the latest -- to order course books for next year. Many professors prefer to order from the Book Center, but Nickles said he can't accept such orders until he is certain he will be in business next fall. Penn's Barnes & Noble-operated Book Store is still accepting book orders for the fall, but in order to ensure course books' availability next fall, professors will have to order from the store by its deadline if the Book Center remains unable to accept orders. It is unclear what the Book Store's latest deadline for such orders would be, although its World Wide Web site says the store needs "months" of lead time. Book Store officials did not return calls. Nickles estimates he must have orders in place by the end of May or he will not be able to order textbooks in time for classes. Losing that business would be devastating for the small independent store.