'Tough Choice': Red Jacket Books To Close In Westhampton Beach

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY — Red Jacket Books, a beloved Westhampton Beach bookstore, will soon be closing the doors to its retail location on Main Street.

A message on social media announced the news. "Thank you to everyone that has supported us over the last three years," owner Ben Vengroff wrote. "It has been an absolute pleasure to be able to supply Westhampton Beach and the surrounding areas with a place to browse and purchase books. Unfortunately, due to reasons both personal and financial, we will not be renewing our lease at 77 Main Street for 2024."

Vengroff added: "The decision was not easy to make, but it was necessary. We wish we could compete with certain online retailers, or certain book-selling giants, but under the current circumstances, we are unable to do so. We do hope you understand our tough choice."

Also on social media, Vengroff said that there's still some time to enjoy the shop. "We're not done yet!" he wrote.

The store will be open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, until they close. For information on hours, click here.

In addition, shoppers can enjoy deep discounts, with everything 50 percent off, unless otherwise noted, including books, totes, games, puzzles and more.

There's also one more event scheduled: On Sunday, October 22, hockey legend Buzz Deschamps will be at the store; patrons will have the chance to meet him and have copies of his new biography signed.

Also, a writing competition is still underway: "Our writing competitions aren't going anywhere," Vengroff said. "We will continue to host and publish contest (though more frequently now) and we still plan on publishing a collection of the winners and our favorites. You can look for that collection coming next spring."

An online book club will also still continue; the book club is expected to start up again in January, with weekly book discussion posts and more.

To keep up-to-date on Red Jacket Books' plans even after the brick-and-mortar shop closes, follow the business on Facebook here.

Red Jacket Books, located at 77 Main Street, was voted "Best Book Store" in the 2022 "Bethpage Best of Long Island" competition, sponsored by Bethpage Federal Credit Union.

According to a description on the "Bethapage Best of LI Winners" page, Red Jacket Books is a "quaint, independent bookshop" that "feeds the souls of book lovers on Main Street in Westhampton Beach. Founder Ben Vengroff started Red Jacket Books in July 2020 as an online store and more recently branched out to create the brick-and-mortar retail location that’s become such a hit. Locals love to browse the collection and find their next beach read."

Vengroff, on the Red Jacket Books website, said he created the shop "out of a complete love for reading, writing, and everything in between."

Why the name Red Jacket? Vengroff set out to answer the question: "Many years ago I was in California visiting a friend and saw a red jacket in the store. I fell in love with it and wore it every single day since then, and became known for it," he said. "Some people like it and some hate it, but it made an impression with almost everyone. Then in 2019, a storm caused a tree to hit my house and ruin almost all my belongings. All my coats and jackets were absolutely ruined — with the exception of my lucky Red Jacket."