AMAZING BOOKS WILL TAKE OVER THE OLD ATHLETA SPACE ON WALNUT STREET | PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LINN

Businesses are starting to fill in some of the many vacancies along Shadyside’s Walnut Street that have concerned shoppers and some local retailers on this trendy shopping avenue.

Independent bookstore Amazing Books announced on social media that it has closed its original Downtown location and is setting up shop in the former Athleta space that became vacant earlier this year. It hopes to open by mid-May.

“We are super-excited to be bringing our always amazing selection of used books and records to Walnut Street. Our new space at 5430 Walnut Street (formerly an Athleta) is three times the size of our Downtown store, and is really beautiful with great wood details,” the owners wrote. The post included photos of bookshelves being assembled along the walls in the new space.

WALNUT STREET | PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LINN

Paris Baguette, which has 4,000 locations worldwide, has already announced it will be opening a franchise in the vacant Williams Sonoma space (5514 Walnut St.) this fall. The South Korea-based bakery cafe also will be opening a spot in June at 8011 McKnight Road in the North Hills.

While many Pittsburghers have grown concerned about the recent closings of Gap, E.B. Pepper, Athleta, Talbots, Williams Sonoma and the Acorn restaurant, some long-timers say it’s just part of the cyclical changes that have occurred on the chic street for years.

“Walnut Street has gone through so many changes over the decade and it’s just going through another one,” Amanda Blair, owner of Kards Unlimited told the Post-Gazette recently. Kards Unlimited, which has operated on Walnut Street since 1968, is a frequent winner in Pittsburgh Magazine’s Best of the ’Burgh Reader Poll, including in 2023.

True, I arrived in Pittsburgh too late to experience what many considered some of the hippest clubs in town on Walnut Street — Razzbury Rhino, Lou’s Bar and The Encore. But I did enjoy The Balcony, an upper-level jazz club and restaurant, during the ’80s and ’90s. It was replaced in 1998 by a Pottery Barn that ultimately closed in 2011.

In its announcement, Amazing Books said it plans to be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Walnut Street most days, and to also host its Book ‘n Beer nights on Thursdays from 6 to 10 p.m. and Saturdays from one hour after sunset until midnight during the summer, and to 11 p.m. in the winter.

While the owners said they loved being Downtown at 929 Liberty Ave. since April 2013, “circumstance has nudged/guided us to swiftly move to Walnut Street in Shadyside.” 

Amazing Books also operates a location at 5858 Forbes Ave. in Squirrel Hill. The bookstore won Pittsburgh Magazine’s Best of the ‘Burgh Reader Poll in 2018 in the Indie Bookstore category.