Spike in rent will lead to July closing of Mr. K’s Used Books

Shelves of used books and hidden gems line the walls of Mr. K’s Used Books in North Charleston, giving bibliophiles a space since 2011 to find new reads and old favorites. But owner Mary Dabir’s lease of the space expires at the beginning of July. A hike of about $4,000 in monthly rent is no longer sustainable, she said.

“We would still be there,” she told the Charleston City Paper this week. “The rent just kept pushing up and up, and with Top Golf coming in next door … we couldn’t sustain it any more.”

Dabir said she doesn’t blame landlords for the rise in rent.

“The landlords are very, very nice,” she said. “They just think the area being more developed so much justifies higher price-per-square-foot. We want the best for them too, I guess. As a business person, if they can get that rent, maybe they should.”

Dabir said she doesn’t have any plans to open a new store in the Charleston area, despite now living in the Holy City with her husband Kaveh. She cited the Lowcountry’s rising costs for business owners everywhere — not just around Tanger Outlets in North Charleston — and the difficulty of finding available space.

“Charleston is just a bit hard for space and business,” she said. “It has so many different pockets. It’s just a little tricky. We had a hard enough time finding the place we’re in now.”

The two opened the North Charleston location less than 10 years after buying their first bookstore just outside of Knoxville, Tenn. Soon after opening the first store, they opened the second in Johnson City, Tenn. Locations in Greenville and Asheville sprung up shortly after.

“We had family in Greenville, so we opened one there,” Dabir said. “The manager there later moved to Charleston and said if we opened a store there, they would run it … all of our stores fell into place, and people helped us every step of the way. It was fun — it’s still fun.”

Dabir said she didn’t expect so many people to feel so heavily for the loss of the bookstore.

“Breaks your heart”

“We actually had two customers come in and break down in tears,” she said. “That just really breaks your heart. They said, ‘This is my happy place.’ We knew people would be upset, but not to this extent. It’s really heartwarming.

“We had a wonderful experience in North Charleston,” she added. “The store went up easy, and we had a good run. Our customers are very nice; they love finding treasures and they love finding used books they couldn’t find at any other store.”

Dabir said she plans to use the last couple months of the lease to clear out as much supply as she can from the 10,000-square-foot space. What books aren’t sold will be sent to other store locations.

Hours for the store, 5070 International Blvd., are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.