A Call to Help Save Vroman's, Pasadena's Book Store Institution

It's amazing to think that Vroman's has been in business since 1894... and even more sad to think it could be the coronavirus that ends that legacy. Vroman's put out the call for help this week, and it's a good reminder that local businesses are still hurting. It would be such a shame to lose Vroman's, and other long-standing legacy shops in Southern California. We've already lost so many. Their plea:

Friends, the past few months have been the most difficult in our company’s 126-year history and Vroman’s needs your help to stay open. Here's how you can support your local indie! Shop now for books, gifts, & gift cards w/ Vromans & encourage others to do the same. (Shop online w/ curbside pickup, call us to place an order, or ship it. Return to shop in our stores w/ our new health & safety measures in place.)

Shop in-store on weekday mornings, rather than busy weekends or afternoons. Shop EARLY before the Dec holiday crowds – stores will be far less crowded in Oct & Nov & shipping/book printing delays are expected. Our hours are currently 10:30am-6pm.

We also need your help to get the word out! Reach out to your friends & contacts. Save this shareable, use the hashtag #ShopVromans & post on your social media accounts. Don't forget to tag us!

We truly appreciate your support, during this critical time and for the past 126 years Red heartFolded handsBooks. Thank you so much and stay well! #ShopVromans #shoplocal #indiebookstore #vromans #independentbookstore

Support Vroman's by heading to their website and buying books there: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/vromans-curbside-pick. Trust me, Amazon won't notice.

A Sign That I Am... Old

This sign excites me. I'm sorry. /old

Scenes from This Year's Festival of Books

Target wasn't a sponsor of this year's Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC -- and although I'm sure that was a financial blow to the festival organizers, it was likely a nice boon to independent bookstores like Montrose's Once Upon a Time (above). I happily shelled out money to support the store (one of the gems of Montrose's shopping district) and buy the Blogger Kids some fresh books (many of which were autographed by the authors) at the same time.

I also stopped by Angel City Press (by far my favorite booth every year at the festival), where I picked up a few new L.A.-centric books for my collection and also caught up with LA Observed's Kevin Roderick, and we both marveled at how we've now been doing this blogging thing for 12 years. Is there an end game? Or can we keep this up as a hobby forever? Good question!

I had Blogger Kid 2.0 in tow, so there was no time to really listen to any speakers, although we did stop for a bit to hear Billy Idol interviewed about his career. Some pics of our Saturday at the Festival of Books:


Music at the USC stage


Kind of hard to make out, but yes, that's Billy Idol


Always a crowd at the Festival of Books!


I think this character has something to do with a Trader Joe's cookbook.


C-SPAN's Book TV

A Farewell to Brand Bookshop: Closing Sale (Half Off All Books) Starts Today

Sad, sad bookstore news out of Glendale: The Brand Bookshop, one of the last remaining independently owned book store gems left in L.A., is shutting down after 29 years in business. (It opened its doors in 1985. I called it "one of Glendale's treasures" in a 2007 blog post.) According to the LA Times:

Owner Jerome Joseph, now in his mid-80s, has decided to retire. A used bookstore with a vast, eclectic selection, Brand Bookshop was one of the largest bookstores of its kind in Southern California. In addition to the books in its sprawling Glendale store it has a large stock warehoused offsite, totaling more than 100,000 books. With its books sorted into more than 1,500 highly curated categories, Brand Bookshop has provided a terrific example of the power of browsing. Walking its aisles was an occasion for serendipity, contradiction and surprise.

Carolyn Kellogg in her piece above notes that Brand Bookshop was slow to start selling its books online. Too bad no one could step in and keep the store going. It narrowly avoided a fire next door just last year; instead, it was the march of time that ultimately claimed Brand Bookshop.

Starting today, all books are 50% off. Make sure to get there before it's too late!

R.I.P., Two L.A. Landmarks: Tom Bergin's and Williams' Book Store

This is why we can't have nice old things in Los Angeles: They keep disappearing. We've said goodbye to the likes of Bahooka this year (and I'm still nervous about the return of Clifton's Cafeteria). And now L.A. is saying farewell to two more retail landmarks: The 77-year-old Irish saloon Tom Bergin's and the 104-year-old Williams' Book Store in San Pedro.

Here's the L.A. Times story on the surprise Tom Bergin's shut down:

The pub -- one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles -- posted a message on its Facebook page announcing the closure. A reason was not given. The message simply said: "We are sorry to let everyone know that this Sunday will be Tom Bergin's last day of business. Please join us in our last few days; we'd love to see as many familiar faces as possible."

Someone who answered the phone at Bergin's this evening attributed the closure to "lack of sales." The man -- who declined to give his name -- added: "The ownership wasn't reaching the revenue needed to sustain itself."

The tavern had recently been taken over by Los Angeles restaurateur Brandon Boudet, closed for some retooling, and then reopened. Efforts to reach Boudet were unsuccessful.

Tom Bergin's Tavern first opened in 1936 on Fairfax Avenue, south of Wilshire. L.A. Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold said walking into the restaurant's dining room was like stepping back in time to Raymond Chandler's L.A.

The tavern was known for its rare Irish whiskeys, a well-drawn Guinness and hefty servings of coconut cream pies, as well as for the signed shamrocks that festooned the wooden rafters above the bar, signed by regulars and tourists alike. Still, the menu offered a bit of whimsy, such as a jambalaya.

And here's the L.A. Times on what's to become of Williams' Book Store:

Opened in 1909, Williams' Book Store is considered by some to be the oldest continuously operating bookstore in Los Angeles (Vroman's, which opened in 1894, is in Pasadena). But it stands to be the latest casualty in a business that has been moving increasingly online.

Williams' Book Store was opened by E.T. Williams, a Welshman who landed in San Pedro and decided to stay. When he died in 1940, it passed to his daughter Ethel; in 1941, when Anne Gusha graduated from college, she began working at the store full time. Ethel brought Anne and then Jerry into the business, and in 1980, the Gushas took ownership of the bookstore.

The store has moved to various locations in its century in the book business, always looking for a lower rent that would allow it to continue to serve the same community.

Williams' Book Store will close the first week of August, after San Pedro celebrates its 125th anniversary.

(Pic credits: KCRW; Williams' Book Store)

Exploring the Last Bookstore's Labyrinth

The best bookstore in Los Angeles just got bigger -- and better. Downtown's amazing Last Bookstore, which we wrote about last year, has expanded dramatically into a new 6,100 square foot upstairs space that it calls the "Labyrinth."

The "Labyrinth" includes 100,000 books that are all $1 each. That's right. It's a bit of a treasure hunt, as the books aren't necessarily shelved in any particular order (although kids books seem to be grouped together in places). But that's perhaps part of the fun. If you want order, the books downstairs in the Last Bookstore's normal floor space are indeed cataloged. Upstairs, it's the wild west.

Some shots from the Last Bookstore's new space:



Little army men keep watch.



Lots and lots of bookshelf space.



And more bookshelves!



Facing outside.



Hours could be spent here.



Yes, hours.



The Last Bookstore inhabits a space that was once a bank. Yep, that's why this is the "Old Bank District."



One more look at the lobby.



This isn't your typical used book store. Check out these old typewriters.



From the Last Bookstore's website: "The name was chosen with irony, but it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy as physical bookstores are dying out like dinosaurs from the meteoric impact of Amazon and e-books. With our constant turnover of stock, regular musical and literary events, and coffee and vinyl LP shop, we book-lovers at the Last Bookstore hope to last as long as we can in downtown LA’s vibrant new community."

The Last Bookstore's address is 453 S Spring St, but the entrance is on 5th St. It's open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Downtown's Last Bookstore Preps Major Expansion

We're big fans of downtown's The Last Bookstore (read our review here), so I'm excited to see that the store will be expanding. Here's what they're up to:

The construction is still in progress, but the end result will be brand-new shelves of over 100,000 $1 books. We're also taking down some of the walls up there so you'll be able to look down onto the first floor of the Bookstore while you browse upstairs. This new space will also serve as an amazing community builder, as half of all net proceeds from sales on the second floor will go to support tutoring homeless Skid Row kids. It's going to be a lot easier to rationalize taking home a few extra books now.

To support the Mezzanine Expansion, the Last Bookstore is asking for some donations via IndieGoGo. And there's something in it for you:

*Donate $5 and get $6 credit in the store on used books, DVDs, or CDs
*Donate $10 and you get 15 one-dollar books
*$20 gets you $30 of store credit towards any used books
*A $50 donation will earn you $80 used book store credit

Head over to their website for more info.

This is Where Borders Bookcases Go to Die

One of the major things we lost in 2011 was the once-vibrant Borders book and music chain. Now the former Border stores sit empty in spots such as Glendale's Brand Blvd. and Pasadena's Lake Avenue. But pieces of it live on -- look carefully at used bookstores around town, and the Borders shelving is popping up all over the place. We mentioned back in June that downtown's The Last Bookstore uses the old Borders fixtures (nicely refinished) -- and now, as seen above, the new discount Crown Books store in Burbank also relies on those Borders bookcases.

Westside Pavilion Barnes & Noble To Shut Down

(Flickr pic by mirtai.)

This was a shocker. As LA Observed reports, the popular (and usually pretty busy) Barnes & Noble at the Westside Pavilion is shutting down. That will leave no major commercial book store between Santa Monica and The Grove. That's stunning news for westsiders -- and even UCLA students who ventured down Westwood to hang out there. LA Observed writes:

Quiet talk has been around for a few weeks, but now red clearance sale signs have gone up — 30 percent off on a lot of books — and store clerks acknowledged today that they have been given the word. The multi-story Barnes & Noble at Pico and Westwood boulevards will close around the end of the year. Word on the street is that the H&M store in Westside Pavilion will expand into the higher-profile corner location. There's no official confirmation from the mall or from Barnes & Noble.

Reaction on Twitter was swift and surprised. Writes Joni Yung: "what??!?!" Terry McCarty adds: "Damn. So the definition of the Westside brick-and-mortar bookstore has changed to mostly used booksellers."