photo: Seek New Travel

After Harvard Square’s Wordsworth bookstore closed in 2004, owners Hillel Stavis and Donna Friedman decided to focus on their other venture, a children’s bookstore named after Curious George. They opened the store in 1995 with the consent of Cambridge resident Margret Rey who created George with her husband Hans. In addition to books they sold games and crafts. Well, you probably know where this is going. The owners announced earlier this month that the bookstore would close. Lease negotiations, healthcare costs, and the oft-cited bad economy contributed to their decision. They attempted to save Curious George and Friends by turning it into a non-profit and asking the Cambridge City Council and the Rey’s Curious George Foundation for help, proposing a small museum. But no one has stepped forward to save the store. Joining it in the disappearance of independent bookstores from the historic square is the Globe Corner Bookstore which closes this week.