SINGAPORE - After a short-lived resurrection, Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop will once again be closing its doors next Monday (Jan 31).

The home-grown bookshop and cafe had reopened at the Urban Redevelopment Authority Centre in Maxwell Road on Jan 6 after a five-month hiatus, but will be shuttering again after less than a month.

Epigram Books publisher Edmund Wee, 69, said that Epigram's partner, coffee chain Huggs, was suspending operations for the time being and as the sub-tenant, it had to follow suit.

Opened in March 2019, Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop was the first bookstore here to sell only books about Singapore, by Singapore writers or published in Singapore.

It had closed temporarily in August last year, with Epigram running a pop-up bookshop at 267 Beach Road during the hiatus.

Mr Wee said Epigram will be opening a 20-seater coffee bookshop with Balestier Market Collective at the Singapore Art Museum in Tanjong Pagar Distripark in April or May this year.

It earlier ran a pop-up at the venue during Singapore Art Week, which was from Jan 14 to 23 this year.