Hearing the news that Sam Weller's Books will be leaving its spacious Main Street location opens up a whole discussion on what's to blame for the store's sagging fortunes.

Of course, the economy is crappy. And there are the changes technology has brought to the bookselling business - where people would rather search online for a rare title than rummage through a basement full of books.

But there's also the fact that about once every decade, Weller and other Main Street businesses have had to weather an attempt to "improve" downtown Salt Lake City:

• In the '70s, dilapidated historic buildings were torn up to build the Crossroads Plaza and the ZCMI Center.
• In the '80s, Main Street's sidewalks were widened, which reduced driving and parking to increase space for non-existent pedestrian traffic.
• In the '90s, Main Street was torn up to install the rail lines for TRAX.
• In this decade, the LDS Church closed off part of Main Street for its grand plaza by Temple Square, and tore down the Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center to create the massive City Creek Plaza project - which won't be done until 2012.

Here's hoping Sam Weller's can, in its new location and configuration, figure out how to survive the next effort to "save" downtown.

Labels: downtown, Sam Weller's