CHEVALIER’S BOOKS welcomed customers into its new space last month. Photos by Gary Leonard
It’s anything but business as usual on Larchmont Boulevard, where a number of storefronts are struggling with landlord and pandemic related issues. A few of the former tenants from the Lipson Building, which is now under construction like Chevalier’s Books and Landis Stationery have found new homes, while other longtime businesses on Larchmont have either signaled trouble, or have decided to close all together.
Here’s what’s happened in the first month of 2021.
Chevalier’s Books
BOOK boxes cross the Boulevard.
First, the good news. The oldest independent bookstore in Los Angeles was welcoming customers back into a new space by mid-January.
The Last Bookstore in DTLA
From drowning in debt to lines out the door, local outlets have readjusted the way they do business nine months after the COVID-19 outbreak hit the U.S.
With COVID-19 cases rising and a new stay-at-home order in effect, indie bookstores in Los Angeles continue to tread water amid an overwhelming storm. Throw in the first holiday season of the pandemic era and bookstores are enduring even more challenges in what would usually be the most lucrative time of the year.
When The Hollywood Reporter last spoke to several bookstores in March at the start of the pandemic store owners were forced to cut staff, focus on online sales and ponder the idea of opening their doors again. Now nine months later and in the midst of the holiday season, local bookstores are open at 20 percent capacity and have found salvation by reinventing themselves and creating safe and enjoyable ways to remain connected to their communities.