This end is coming near for Vertigo Books, an independent store that started in Washington's Dupont Circle in 1991 and moved to College Park in 2000. Along the way, the store hosted authors -- including Barack Obama in 1995 -- and developed  programs with local libraries. But Vertigo also had to battle superstores, on-line retailers such as Amazon, e-readers, and finally, a withering recession. "It was death by 1,000 cuts," co-owner Todd Stewart told me, adding that Amazon was "the biggest cut of all."

Vertigo, which plans to close April 24 or 25, was very aggressive in noting that locally owned businesses are the bedrock of any community. Profits stay home; they aren't shipped to a corporate office in a distant state or country. Local businesses pay a host of taxes that Internet-based competitors avoid. And tastemakers, the folks who set buying lists and even displays, are always handy; they aren't based in a glass-walled office at "corporate." 

At least Vertigo is leaving with its head held high. Starting at 5 p.m. Saturday, the store will host its version of an Irish wake. As the website says: "Bring a dish or something to drink and join us for a free form wake and potluck ... . If you shopped, read or worked here, we want to see you."