Dec. 31 marks the end of an era for 2520 Fayetteville St.
Due to property management disputes, The Know bookstore will end its 18-year residency in the building it has called home since the store was founded in 1981.
The Know is currently owned by founder Bruce Bridges, a local entrepreneur and cultural icon in the Durham community. Disagreements in property ownership stemmed from Bridges’ attempts to secure at least partial possession of the building from owner Mozella McLaughlin. Now, after several failed attempts to compromise, both Bridges and his bookstore are being forced to leave.
“I own the business but I want ownership in the building itself,” Bridges said. “They don’t want to give me any ownership at all. Any person with any kind of intelligence after running a business for so long knows this is not too much to ask for.... They’re trying to kick me out of the building or keep me here under terms I don’t agree with.”
Mozella McLaughlin and her son Wiliam McLaughlin, the building’s acting manager, plan to continue in The Know’s footsteps after building renovations. The McLaughlins plan to replace The Know with the Mok’e Jazz Cultural Center, a center that, like The Know, will feature jazz performances, a restaurant and a bookstore. William McLaughlin declined to comment for this story.
Despite the similar services the new business will provide, The Know’s large customer community is far from receptive of the new changes.
“This is a terrible thing that is happening to [Bridges],” said Amatullah Abdul-Karim, a regular customer at The Know. “He’s been here for many years. People should boycott the new people that are coming in. This is so very unfair.”
James Jackson, a chef in the bookstore’s restaurant, said he thinks the incoming business is an attempt to mimic Bridges’ success with The Know.
“They want him to be nothing but a tenant,” Jackson said. “They don’t want to give anything, they want to take, take, take. They just think that because he is successful, they can do the same thing. It’s basically a hostile takeover. We already have a jazz-culture center here.”
The bookstore has accumulated a strong following in Durham. It is considered one of the oldest black-owned bookstore in North Carolina and the first in Durham, said Alton Gray, another chef in the restaurant. Although The Know is best recognized for its provision of jazz, food and books, employees said it makes numerous other contributions to the community that many do not recognize from a customer perspective.
“My take is that this place is really needed. It’s been here for years, and it’s positive for the community,” Gray said. “When a business fails, it affects the entire community, not just the owner. The Know provides for the vendors and employees, too. This is my job and the jobs of other people as well.”
Bridges said he was concerned not only for his sake, but also for the sake of his employees.
“It will affect the whole fabric of the city of Durham,” he said. “It affects the vendors who I get my T-shirts, CDs, food and cakes from. It will affect the several writers who I display in the store. African-American Durham has never had an attraction like The Know bringing people from all over the world here, I know of nothing that could compare to it. I don’t know if the McLaughlins understand what they’re doing when they operate like this.”
The McLaughlins have not offered compensation to Bridges for the business he will lose during his search for a new location. Bridges, who has yet to find a new building that the business can afford, said he hopes to receive help from the city in his pursuit.
“I do hope the city will step up to the plate with me and try to see if we can relocate to another place,” he said. “I plan to try to find a place as soon as possible so we can all keep going and provide the same kind of service for Durham. My business will go wherever I go.”
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