In the summer of 2008, a long-standing neighborhood institution, Nikos Magazine and Smoke Shop, was forced to close its doors due to its growingly unwieldy rent. Ancient history, by now, yeah.
Nikos was a dearly beloved, go-to shop for any connoisseur of the printed periodical. Were you looking for a zine about ornamental doily-collecting or scouring for the latest quarterly journal about anarcho-syndicalysm, Nikos invariably had you covered. I was a regular given the fact that it stocked practically every rock rag you could want, from your SPINs and Rolling Stones and your NMEs and your Melody Makers and your Q's through to your MaximumRocknRolls, your Flipsides, your Forced Exposures, and your Big Takeovers. Be you a new romantic fop or a grizzled death-metaller, Nikos had your reading material. Full stop.
Like so many other fixtures of a once-thriving, healthy community, it was snuffed out like a fucking candle by a landlord's greed. In its place, a new but strikingly indistinct newspaper emporium opened. For the last few years, that business has anemically held court on a spot previously renowned as a nuanced haven for the literate and knowledge-hungry.
Well, balls to all that now. I'm not sure how long it's been this way, but said newspaper outlet has since pulled up stakes. The place is locked tight, but if you look inside, it looks like the place has been messily ransacked. Regardless, it is very much closed for business, and is currently being left to rot.
Once again, the neighborhood loses.
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