Olsson's Books, one of the oldest independent booksellers in Washington D.C., plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, founder John Olsson said yesterday. Pressed by creditors who have filed claims against the company's inventories and by rising overhead costs, Olsson's is closing at least one store and will evaluate its ability to operate its remaining five properties, an attorney for the company said.

"The book business is getting a little soft. It's not selling as much as it used to," Olsson said. "Our music sales went from 50 percent of our business to maybe 15. We lost a lot of revenue, and at the same time rents went up and real estate taxes went up. I don't know what we would have done differently. It's a killer."

Olsson's closed its Penn Quarter store, which opened 15 years ago. Olsson said rents and taxes had risen beyond affordability at the store and acknowledged falling behind on payments to booksellers.

Olsson, 76, began selling books and records in the District 50 years ago and has battled the economic forces of big-box competition and Internet sales. But ultimately his business is being strained by forces close to home. "We sort of helped make the neighborhood what it is. And it's a great neighborhood, but we can't afford the rent," Olsson said. A few years ago, the store's rent in the renovated Lansburgh department store building was $30 a square foot. Now, it has risen to $50 to $60 a square foot.

Over the years, Olsson's has battled to maintain profitability against the megastores like "Borders" and "Barnes and Noble", eventhough Olsson's was one of the first to combine books, music and a coffee cafe in the same store, long before the meagastores started doing it.

The closing leaves Olsson's with five stores, down from the nine the company operated around 2002. My favorite is still the store in old town Alexandria, Virginia.