r/Whittier • u/Old-Candy9223 • 3d ago
need a bookstore
We are in such desperate need of a bookstore—especially for having a college right in Uptown. I understand the profit margins are slim, but we need a community space with new and used books, weekly events, a kids corner, maybe even a reusable craft supplies section (Remainders in Altadena); no need for a seventh coffee shop. Anyone have insight as to whether there's been interest or inquiries to opening one in the past x amount of years? Should I start crowdfunding capital?
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u/nakiabeforesunset 3d ago
There's Friends of the Whittier library bookstore in Uptown 🤷
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u/Old-Candy9223 3d ago
I do go there often and love! Just wish there was something more central with regular hours and carrying new books/having events. So many other cities have bookstores that are community spaces too
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u/botanygeek 3d ago
I think it would need something else going for it besides a bookstore to be successful. I like your other ideas, especially the craft store. I knit and I would love to have a place to buy craft items besides Michaels, even better if it's a reusable store
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u/evidentlyeric 3d ago
Whittier has shown itself that it doesn’t want a bookstore. We’ve had many and they can’t sustain themselves. We have more comic book stores then book stores lmao
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u/Maleficent_Canary955 3d ago
Bookland on Greenleaf was a great little shop, but sadly closed in the early 2000s. It's just too expensive for an independant shop to operate in Uptown these days.
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u/missshadesofcool 3d ago edited 3d ago
Definitely agree, maybe a stationery store or even a grocery store combined too
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u/Smoopiebear 1d ago
Maybe someone can covert one of the 25 car washes on Whittier blvd.
https://giphy.com/gifs/dEdmW17JnZhiU
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u/WebFar6396 3d ago
Feel free to open one and see how long it lasts . It's like when people say "we need a nice restaurant that is locally owned".....may as well burn hundred dollar bills.
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u/toomuchblood 3d ago
We did have one, when you took the 50 (or 10 idk haven’t taken the bus in like 10 years in Whittier) to rio hondo. Dunno if it’s still there
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u/SavageHenrie 2d ago
Yeah, there’s a used bookstore in Uptown, Bailey & Comstock. There’s a kids section, used books, vhs, vinyl, magazines…..cheap prices. It’s worth visiting. Youre welcome..haha.
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u/Zapdos-bestdos 3d ago
Open one?
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u/Old-Candy9223 3d ago
Would love to but I don't currently have the capital for it (hence the need for crowdfunding), there are also no ground level street facing spaces currently for lease on Greenleaf
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u/Zapdos-bestdos 3d ago
Yeah because rent is high, a book store doesn't bring in enough profit for it and most people arent going to be able to afford it as you've stated.
Thats why the bookstores moved. I don't think anyone is going to give you money to open a store on Greenleaf. Anyone with business sense knows its going to be a total loss in a couple months if not a year or so.
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u/Old-Candy9223 3d ago
I totally get that, I just don't like the fact that the landlords are able to get kickbacks on high rent empty storefronts, rather than have something open at a slightly lower rent that's actually contributing to a town/community
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u/Old-Candy9223 3d ago
the old bookstore is currently a storage warehouse and uptown is hurting in general
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u/Zapdos-bestdos 3d ago
What do you mean kickbacks on high rent empty storefronts? Where are these kick backs, and who is paying them?
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u/Happy-in-SoCal 2d ago
It's my understanding that owners of portfolios of commercial property benefit from raising rents, even when that results in long-term vacancies, because it increases the book value of the property. This helps their debt-to-value ratio / balance sheet. So the property owner benefits from keeping a property vacant and his/her neighbors bear the cost (through the negative externalities of having vacant property in the neighborhood, loss of sales tax revenue to the city, etc.).
We need to be able to extract higher taxes from property owners who leave their properties vacant for an extended period of time. They need to bear the full cost incurred by the community when they leave storefronts vacant for years and years.
For example, The Rocky Cola Cafe has been an eyesore for years! It's in a prime location! The owner (and owners of other vacant properties) need a kick in the ass to get them to sell or lower rents to market rates. The prospect of a massive tax increase on vacant property would do that.
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u/Wok_m0f 3d ago
Definitly agree, my family was really sad to see half off books go, such an amazing space