Local bookstore White Whale and Strip District Terminal developer dispute failed deal for lease

A small crowd rallied outside White Whale Bookstore in Bloomfield on Tuesday, supporting the Pittsburgh shop’s dispute with a developer over a failed plan for a second location.

In a series of tweets Monday afternoon, the independent, family-owned bookstore said that until recently, it had been planning to expand with a location at The Terminal in the Strip District — but the developer gave the spot to a bookstore based in New York City.

White Whale owners said they were “taken advantage of,” calling the ordeal a “cautionary tale.” The developer, McCaffrey Interests, characterized it as a standard leasing transaction in which the developer’s original choice returned; it never used White Whale “to leverage” the New York store.

In White Whale’s telling, McCaffery Interests approached them last summer and followed up later in the year, lobbying to get them in the space. “At the time, we laughed — it was a pandemic and we were just trying to keep our business afloat! — but they were persistent,” the store tweeted.

Today it was announced that a large new bookstore is opening at The Terminal in the Strip. We have some Thoughts.

TL;DR, White Whale got taken advantage of, and this is a cautionary tale. Buckle up! (Same text on images as on this thread)

1/15 pic.twitter.com/1bhZIbgxU1

— White Whale Bookstore (@whitewhalebks) May 3, 2021

White Whale said it had settled on lease terms and McCaffery had “explicitly” confirmed it was not negotiating with another store. Then, “radio silence.”

White Whale followed up with the developer after a month, and then again three weeks later. Two weeks later, the store learned McCaffery was moving forward with another bookstore.

“When we spoke in person McCaffery’s leasing manager told us that, actually, the other store had had a draft of a lease at The Terminal all along. They had just ‘come back to the table’ to finish up in Feb. It certainly appears as if White Whale was merely a bargaining tool,” the thread continues. “It is not our intention to go after another bookstore. Pittsburgh is a great literary city full of prolific and eclectic readers! But McCaffery’s assertion that they are focused on community is purely lip-service.”

In an interview, CEO Dan McCaffery said the firm started talks with Posman Books well over a year ago. McCaffery Interests had gotten far with Posman, acquiring a letter of intent and hammering out a deal. But as they waited for the final lease agreement come through, the developer lost contact with Posman Books.

McCaffery said he still wanted a bookstore in The Terminal, so his team found White Whale. He said they began discussions in good faith, but then Posman Books came back with a completed lease agreement.

“What would you do? What would anyone do?” he said. “I understand they’re disappointed. … I’m sorry we were a part of that. … White Whale was not something we used to leverage Mr. Posman. Absolutely not. Never happened.”

Since White Whale’s thread on Twitter, support for the bookstore has exploded both online and in-person. Several community leaders released statements backing White Whale as a local business and encouraging Pittsburgh residents to patronize the shop.

The Bloomfield store is co-owned by Adlai and Jill Yeomans, a married couple. They bought the East End Book Exchange in 2016, relaunching it as White Whale later that year and building on its connections with local writers and readers.

“We should be growing our community-minded business, not using them as a bargaining chip to attract out-of-towers on the taxpayers’ dime,” state Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Lawrenceville, tweeted Monday.

Pittsburgh Councilwoman Deb Gross, who represents Bloomfield, also tweeted in support. “Please support our local businesses. They are our neighbors and our friends and make our city stronger in so many ways,” Gross wrote. “The public was promised The Terminal would allocate 40,000 sq. ft. to local businesses.”

State Rep. Ed Gainey, who is running for Pittsburgh mayor in the May 18 Democratic primary, tweeted that the ordeal was an example of a “development agenda” during Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration that is “displacing local businesses to make way for luxury development, just like it’s doing to families who have been here for generations.”

The Strip District Terminal is a project seven years in the making, directed by the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. It worked with Chicago-based McCaffery Interests on a $70 million plan to renovate the building, a former produce terminal largely empty for years as development sprouted around the Strip District. Retail tenants have been steadily moving into the space, starting with a Fine Wine & Good Spirits store and including locally based businesses OnPar Now for golf instruction and City Grows, a garden and gift shop that started in Lawrenceville.

The developer announced Monday that Posman Books — a small chain with locations in New York, Atlanta and Boston — would move into the location.

McCaffery disputed the idea that the development firm’s interest in local businesses is “lip service,” saying that of all the businesses queued for The Terminal, Posman Books is the only one from out of state. He named other projects McCaffery Interests have developed in Pittsburgh, including The Cork Factory in the Strip District, an apartment complex that opened in 2007.

“Our company has enjoyed a lot of praise, thanks and admiration in Pittsburgh. And at the turn of a dime, it’s like we’re a bunch of carpetbaggers,” he said.

Tim McNulty, a spokesman for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, said the administration didn’t know White Whale was considering a move into the space.

“The Mayor’s Office was not aware that White Whale was interested in opening a location in the Produce Terminal, and separately spoke with Posman Books about their interest in coming to Pittsburgh. The Mayor’s Office would fully support expansion plans by White Whale or any other small business in the city,” McNulty said in a statement.

The social media attention created by White Whale prompted Darwin Leuba, an O’Hara resident, to encourage people via Twitter to visit the store at noon Tuesday. Though he said he’s not quite a frequent customer, he said learning of White Whale’s experience made him “really, really angry.”

Hell hath no fury like book lovers screwed over by corporate development strategies. pic.twitter.com/1IPYgYruZc

— Darwin Leuba 安達文 (@darwinleuba) May 4, 2021

“This bookstore is already investing in this community,” he said. “I think we need to have a serious discussion about where we’re focusing our investment priorities.”

Jill Yeomans said she decided to tweet the statement as a “heads up” to other local small businesses. She said she’s learned of others in the area, through replies to the tweets and private messages, who have had similar experiences with McCaffery and other developers.

Yeomans said was surprised and pleased the thread garnered so much support, including the line of shoppers gathered on the sidewalk outside.

“It’s Pittsburgh, right?” she said. “I feel like Pittsburgh is all about caring and showing up for your neighbors.”

White Whale’s current location in Bloomfield isn’t going anywhere, though, Yeomans said. And asked if the store still plans to expand, she said, “we have stuff in the works.”