It seems our *pfui* old landlord sold the building in October of 2017, and didn't even have the courtesy to let us know. We made contact with the new owners in January, but were unable to come to any mutually acceptable terms, so we have to be out (which means the place has to be empty) by July 1st., which is exactly 31 years since the day we started setting up here.

Whoops- looks like the new landlord jumped the gun a bit and put up a really nifty "For Rent" sign on the Ides of March. I had planned to make the announcement at the end of the month, with the new (and final) Astronotes.

It's been a lot of fun (and a lot of work), but frankly neither Mary, Betty, Mark, nor I, at ages 67, 72, 74 and 68 are in the kind of shape needed to start over with a new location.

AND DON'T WORRY about your list: We've got it covered until (and including) whatever ships June 20.

So you have plenty of time to move your list to another store. I'd particularly recommend Marc Parenteau's "Comic Hunter" up at 9675 Papineau.

One of the few stores to predate us, Komico, is still on Decarie near Queen Mary, and Cosmix continues on Decarie in Ville St.Laurent. I'm sure any of these guys will be more than happy to take care of you. Oh, and lest I forget, I'm told (by Mary and a few customers) that Charlie, the new owner of Capitaine Quebec (just across the street from us) is a nice guy, and you shouldn't have any problem finding that place!

BUT PLEASE- WHEREVER YOU'RE GOING TELL THEM TO START PULLING FOR YOU JUNE 27 AND NOT BEFORE! We need every last nickel we can get from you folks, so play nice, okay?

Or maybe if someone wants to buy us out, we'd be more than happy to talk, and you won't have to decide on a new place> We'll try to engineer it so you can just continue here. For obvious reasons, if buying Astro appeals to you, it's best to get it done ASAP, because the sooner it's done the better your chances of customer retention.

You know, I've always disliked those "Being called home to Jesus" sales that are so rife in this business (Buy our books or we'll die). Well, we've been called home,so we're gonna have a sale. Call it a "Turn off the lights sale!"

MOLON LABE and SAVE!

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE RENT We've gotten a substantial amount of press since we announced the store's closing, Unfortunately, they've all focused on a rent increase s the reason. While we couldn't handle a jump to the new landlord's asking of $9500 a month, we had made the decision to shut down well before that number came up. In fact the number came as a result of a prospective store buyer making the call to the rental agent. It's probably true, but it makes no difference to us. We're finished any way you look at it. The actual reason is that neither Mark, Betty, Mary nor I are physically capable of putting in the kind of effort needed to get the place flying again. To everything there is a season, and this happens to be the winter of our working lives.