VERY SAD NEWS OUT OF LA THIS MORNING

DUTTON'S BRENTWOOD TO CLOSE -

LOSS OF GREAT INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE

Sad news from Los Angeles: Dutton's Brentwood Books is closing on April 30.

Dutton's News and Events
February 25, 2008
Special Announcement

My dear long-time friends,
This has been as difficult a decision as I've ever had to make,
but there seems no other possibility. I hope that I'll be able
to see and speak to you all in the months ahead, but I want
you to hear this from me first.
Doug Dutton

DUTTON’S BRENTWOOD CLOSING ITS DOORS

It is with profound regret and sorrow that Dutton’s Brentwood Books must announce that it will be closing on April 30, 2008.

As our regular customers and friends well know, the past year for the store has been one of upheaval and turmoil. Hard on the heels of the closure of the Dutton’s Beverly Hills location came word that the Brentwood property had changed ownership, and the new owner, Charles T. Munger, announced plans to redevelop the property. The multiple uncertainties of the bookstore’s future, combined with the encumbrances associated with the closure of the Beverly Hills store have crippled the store’s ability to provide the kind of immediate service and depth of inventory that our customers have come to rightly expect.

It is no secret that the store today is a shadow of its former self. Given our situation as it now stands, the pride we feel in our past achievements, and the vagaries of the current book market, shuttering our doors seems the only realistic solution. It is important to note that Charles Munger has committed to a significant amount of financial support for the difficult process of closing the store, and we appreciate his generosity.

Be assured, especially those of you who have regularly asked, “How are things going at the store,” that every effort has been made to try to sensibly and rationally save this enterprise. Those efforts continued up until last week. It is the uncertainty that has, more than any other factor, led us to this painful decision. It has arrested improvement to the physical property, impacted inventory, and made it impossible for our extraordinary staff to provide the level of service that they are accustomed to giving.

We have been asked if the store will reopen in the proposed new development, or at another site in the area. At present, any plans to reopen or relocate will have to await a real offer in a real situation, combined with a sober assessment of the realities of the book world. That said, we have not said “no” to any future possibility.

The one certainty that we have relied upon for our many years at this location is the honest and dedicated support by this community to the value of books and bookstores in general, and to this one in particular. This is a demonstrable fact, proven repeatedly, and while we openly acknowledge our debt to our customers for their years, and even decades, of support, we further ask for your understanding and forbearance in the extremely difficult months ahead.

FOOTNOTE:

Bookman Beattie is bereft at this news and offers his sympathy to the family and to their wonderful staff. This is one of the great West Coast indie bookstores and illustrates just how difficult it is today for independent bookstores to pay their way. We shall all miss you.

And here is the take on the news from Publishers' Lunch:

Dutton's to Close; More Stores In Peril

The owner of LA's best-known independent bookstore Doug Dutton announced last night that the store's last remaining location, Dutton's Brentwood Books, will close on April 30:"As our regular customers and friends well know, the past year for the store has been one of upheaval and turmoil. Hard on the heels of the closure of the Dutton's Beverly Hills location came word that the Brentwood property had changed ownership, and the new owner, Charles T. Munger, announced plans to redevelop the property.

The multiple uncertainties of the bookstore's future, combined with the encumbrances associated with the closure of the Beverly Hills store have crippled the store's ability to provide the kind of immediate service and depth of inventory that our customers have come to rightly expect."It is no secret that the store today is a shadow of its former self. Given our situation as it now stands, the pride we feel in our past achievements, and the vagaries of the current book market, shuttering our doors seems the only realistic solution.... It is the uncertainty that has, more than any other factor, led us to this painful decision. It has arrested improvement to the physical property, impacted inventory, and made it impossible for our extraordinary staff to provide the level of service that they are accustomed to giving."We have been asked if the store will reopen in the proposed new development, or at another site in the area.

At present, any plans to reopen or relocate will have to await a real offer in a real situation, combined with a sober assessment of the realities of the book world."

Elsewhere, Hastings, NY is full of writers but that's not sufficient to sustain the town's Good Yarns bookstore. After 25 years, the store is likely to close soon. "Unless someone comes along in the next few months who is both passionate about books and has the wherewithal to shrug off something as trite as profit — 'You have to have some maniac who is not interested in making a living,' is the way Good Yarns's manager, William Tester, puts it — the store on Main Street will turn into something besides a bookshop."With so many bookstores having closed their doors on Main Streets in Westchester, the passing of Good Yarns means the western side of the county will have no independently owned comprehensive village bookstore between Bronxville and Chappaqua."NYT

Vail, CO's only bookstore Verbatim Booksellers is up for sale and is also likely to close within the year if a buyer does not emerge. Owner Robert Aikens says, "It has to be somebody who loves books, loves music, loves Vail, who wants to keep a bookstore in Vail." The store relocated to a new space in the Sonnenalp Resort in 2006 with the help of $70,000 in donations. Aikens tells the Vail Daily, "I just personally can't afford to take out any more loans or put in any more money myself. I'm not going to go on and continue running a store if it can't survive on its own."Vail Daily

In Boulder, CO, High Crimes Mystery Bookshop is closing their physical store on March 15 and moving to a mail-order-only business.Boulder daily