American Map Corp. will not be renewing the lease on the venerable Hagstrom Map Store (formerly Hammond Map Store) on 43rd Street in Manhattan. The lease runs until March, but if the landlord finds a new tenant sooner, the store will close.In addition to the Hagstrom store, New York once had a thriving Rand McNally store, one of the original four along with San Francisco, Chicago and Washington. Long-time manager Edith Snizek was a legend in the business.
The Complete Traveler is now strictly antiquarian, where once they carried current guides and maps. So now the only travel publishing specialist shop in Manhattan will be Idlewild Books, but it is a small store focused on travel literature and experience, with very few maps. Longitude is a web store and does not have a storefont, but does accept walk-in visitors. They carry a good number of maps along with travel books.
Edith Snizek
3 comments:
My family knew Ms Snizek and I wondered if you had access to her obituary. I found online that she passed away in July 2010.
Afraid I haven't found an obit. She is missed!
I worked as a clerk at the Rand McNally Map Store in New York City under Ms. Snizek briefly in 1972, and shopped there occasionally in later years. She was very dedicated, and ran the store superbly. Scott Lewis, Nyack NY.
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