Students who trudged through the snow to Labyrinth Books on Saturday were greeted by a sign that read, “Labyrinth will be closed due to weather and the town’s absurd parking policy.”
For students seeking to exchange, return or purchase course books after shopping classes last week, the closure was an inconvenience.
“I don’t understand why the bookstore would be closed because of the weather. It’s not like they are selling the books outdoors,” said Onder Polat ’12, who walked to Labyrinth from his room in Butler College on Saturday.
“They could have put a notification on their website,” he added.
Labyrinth co-owner Cliff Simms said he decided to close the store on Saturday when he received an alert from Princeton Township stating that streets would be closed from midnight Friday night through 9 p.m. Sunday.
Labyrinth Books, however, is located in Princeton Borough, not Princeton Township. Borough Police Sergeant Michael Bender said on Sunday that Borough streets were only closed Friday night, the night of the snowstorm.
“No parking was permitted on the road Saturday night into Sunday morning,” Bender said. “Once the plows were done, parking on the road was allowed.”
Labyrinth was not the only store that closed on Saturday due to the inclement weather. Banana Republic, Hamilton Jewelers and Ann Taylor were among those that closed for the day, while Winberie’s was only open for dinner.
Simms said that the Borough should do to more to accommodate downtown businesses, and that an arrangement should be made whereby private parking garages operate free of charge in order to keep cars off snowy streets.
“I think some accommodation can be made with safety concerns and what the town has to do to keep the downtown open,” he said. “We understand that there are emergencies, but there are also different ways around this, like opening up parking garages and keeping people off the streets that way.”
Borough Police Public Safety Communications Officer Ira Doubert said the municipal parking lots, including Park Place East and West, were available at all times in addition to parking garages.
Simms said the snowfall came at a bad time for business. Though Labyrinth’s extended hours for the spring semester book rush ended last Thursday, many students continue to purchase and return books as they add and drop courses, he explained.
Polat was one of seven students who went to Labyrinth between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday, unaware that the bookstore was closed. Simms said he was aware this was a popular weekend for students. “[Closing is] very difficult when it’s the first week of school,” Simms said.
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