Amber Unicorn Books announces book sale before closing

Time has run out for Amber Unicorn Books. The venerable Las Vegas used bookstore will close its doors in late November.

In preparation for shutting down after 39 years in business, owner Myrna Donato is planning a going-out-of-business sale that will begin Oct. 21.

“I’m about ready to hang it up,” Donato said. “I’ve tried for a year and a half to find someone who was interested in buying it.”

However, with no buyer coming forward, “we’ll sell off what we can and then close the doors,” Donato said.

“I’m going to give it until at least the end of November, possibly a week into December. It just depends how many books I have left.”

The store, at 2101 S. Decatur Blvd., sustained a lethal drop in business after the June 2017 closure of a Trader Joe’s that anchored the shopping plaza in which the store sits. Even after the death of her husband and store co-owner Lou Donato in November 2017, Myrna Donato continued to run the store, hoping for a buyer to come forward.

Now, closing Amber Unicorn Books “actually feels like the right thing to do,” Donato said. “With COVID and everything else, I think the last four years have been the worst four years of my life. There just isn’t (customer) traffic here anymore.”

Also, she said, “ever since Lou died, some of the fun has come out of it. I won’t say it’s a job. I still enjoy it. But it’s been a lot of work.”

Books no longer will be accepted for trade credit as of Oct. 17, and trade credit no longer will be applied to purchases, Donato said.

Contact John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.