Paris American bookshop to reopen

Paris's famous American bookshop, Brentano's, is to reopen after closing because of bankruptcy in June 2009.

Booksellers to the world, boasts an old Brentano's logo Brentano's

Iranian businessman Farock Sharifi bought the company, which was founded in 1895, after last year's closure.

This week he announced that the shop will reopen, promising a "new concept" with a "warm atmosphere". 

According to Livres Hebdo magazine, the shop will expand its field of activity by selling paintings and stationery.

Brentano's was one of the longest-lived and best-known English-language bookshops in Paris, with an ideally-placed address on avenue de l'Opéra which runs between the elegant 19th century Opéra Garnier and the Louvre museum.

Its principal competitors include Galignani and WH Smith on the rue de Rivoli and Shakespeare and Co, celebrated in literature and film, on the left bank, although several others are also in business.