Updated April 10, 2026, 5:37 p.m. ET
- The Palm Beach Book Store is permanently closing at the end of April after 37 years in business.
- Owner Candice Cohen cited rising operating costs, including rent, as the reason for the closure.
- The store hosted numerous famous authors, including Donald Trump, Regis Philbin and Dr. Mehmet Oz.
- Prominent figures like Stephen Schwarzman and James Patterson have provided financial support to the store over the years.
A Palm Beach institution that has nurtured a multi-generational love of reading among island residents and their families is closing its doors.
The Palm Beach Book Store at 215 Royal Poinciana Way will shut down permanently at the end of April, marking the end of 37 years in business, said Candice Cohen, the store’s owner.
“I’m just very happy to have had people who are so supportive and loved my bookstore,” she said.
The closure comes amid rising operating costs, including rent, that made running the bookstore impossible to sustain, Cohen said.
Starting April 13, everything in the store will be 25% off, she said, encouraging shoppers to come browse and reminisce.
Once the shop closes, Palm Beach will be left with three bookstores — the general interest Classic Bookstore on South County Road, the specialty-book shop Assouline in Royal Poinciana Plaza, and Worth Avenue’s Raptis Rare Books, which sells first-editions and other collectible books.
Through the decades, The Palm Beach Book Store has hosted book signings and appearances for major authors such as now-President Donald Trump for “The Art of the Comeback” in 1997, and the late TV host Regis Philbin in 2008.
In 2017, Palm Beach resident Dr. Mehmet Oz — then the host of the TV program “The Dr. Oz Show” and today administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — helped a woman who became dizzy during his appearance at The Palm Beach Book Store in support of his book “Food Can Fix It.”
The Palm Beach Book Store’s reach extended beyond Palm Beach island, with regular customers coming from Jupiter, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and points farther flung. It also attracted tourists strolling Royal Poinciana Way.
One of Cohen’s favorite things has been seeing parents who visited her store as children bring their own children into the store to shop. “And these young children, 4 or 5 or 6 years old, love books,” she said. “It’s so great to see.”
Cohen’s shop has attracted major names to its location on Palm Beach’s historic Main Street. That includes Palm Beach resident and Blackstone Chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who Cohen said has helped the store financially since a rent increase just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He’s been a great supporter of my book store and kept me going,” she said.
During her first week open, Cohen noticed a man browsing the store. After about 20 minutes, he came up to her and asked when she opened. “I said, ‘Today,'” Cohen recalled.
The man handed her his business card: He was Alberto Vitale, the longtime Palm Beach resident who from 1989 to 1998 was chairman and CEO of Random House.
“He’d come into my bookstore and chat with me about books,” Cohen said. “It was amazing, for someone of his stature to take an interest in a little bookstore as I was just starting out. I truly appreciated that.”
Prominent supporters also have included best-selling fiction writer James Patterson. In 2014, Cohen and the shop received a $5,000 grant as part of Patterson’s long-running program to support independent bookstores.
In a letter to her customers, Cohen thanked the community for its support over the years. When she opened her store, she wrote, it was because she believed in the power of books to connect and inspire: “What I didn’t fully anticipate was how much this community would give back to me in return.”
People have constantly commented on how well-curated the store is, Cohen said. “It was a reflection of how much we cared, and how much you noticed,” she wrote in her letter.
The Palm Beach Book Store is one of several tenants in the building that is owned by The Breakers-linked entity Flagler System Management Inc., which paid a recorded $10.25 million for the property in 2016.
More information about The Palm Beach Book Store is available at ThePalmBeachBookStore.com or by calling 561-659-6700.
Editor’s note: Do you have a special memory of shopping at The Palm Beach Book Store? Email Kristina Webb at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Please include your name and phone number.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
