Heritage Book Shop Winds Down

In the coming issue of FB&C (May/June), we'll have a story about the closing of Heritage Book Shop in Los Angeles, which has been reported by Michael Lieberman's Book Patrol, Lux Mentis, and Philiobililos. Heritage is one of the great antiquarian bookstores in the country, but after nearly 45 years in the business, Lou Weinstein (who owns the store with his brother Ben) is ready to retire. At FB&C, we've known about this for a good while, but Lou and Ben asked us not to post anything. Now that 5,000 letters have gone out to their customers and the news has circulated on the ABAA chat line and in blogs, I'll add a bit to the mix.

Continue reading after the jump for snippets from our reporting on Heritage, which didn't make it into the printed story.

There is an assumption that Heritage's closing was sparked by the too-good-to-be-true sale of their building. More accurately, Lou's formal retirement has been planned for some time. Lou told me: "I announced to my brother two years ago, that when I’m 62  I’d like to retire, and that’s exactly what I want to do."

He also said, "We’ve been around for a half century, and I’m no longer in the business I started, where we worshiped reference books and sold books by correspondence. I feel like I'm in a different business. Instead of a few hundred people selling antique books, there are thousands." He related a story of how he recently looked up a book online--something worth a few hundred dollars (and at the very low end for the store)--and there was a thrift store offering the book at market price. He said that was a very good example of how things had changed over the years.

I spoke with Rachel Weinstein, Ben's daughter, and an employee at Heritage. She said she wanted to continue on in the business. At first, she was going to work with her father. Right before press time, we were asked to strike that from the article. In fact, in the month I worked on the story, the details changed weekly. They've probably changed again.

Ben Weinstein is planning to continue selling, perhaps from home, perhaps out of a storefront. His "modest" starting inventory will be worth several million dollars. Ben's opening stock will consist of books on consignment and books that Heritage owns jointly with other firms. Those books can't be sent to auction, the planned fate for the rest of Heritage's books. Heritage's current cataloged inventory is worth right about $20 million.

I spoke with several L.A. booksellers, and they said that Heritage buys a lot of books and will be missed. Ken Karmiole said Heritage would leave a "large void," but pointed to a larger concern. "L.A. is a funny place," he said. "In the next ten years, there’s going to be a super major change. The whole trade is aging so much. Bill Dailey is closing down. Michael Dawson has scaled back. Michael Thompson moved into a office space." Karmiole closed his shop a few years ago and moved to by-appointment-only status, as did Eric Chaim Kline.

This contrasts, for example, with the situation in the early 1970s, when Heritage first moved to the neighborhood where it still is (at least until August). “We’re here because Zeitlin was here first,” Ben Weinstein told the Los Angeles Times, referring to legendary bookseller Jake Zeitlin. Michael Thompson opened his shop after working for Zeitlin and Bill and Victoria Dailey met while working there. Zeitlin opened his place in 1948. By 2008, his shop and those of all his apprentices will be gone.

For more on the aging of the book trade, see John Wronoski's (of Lame Duck Books) article, "Young Booksellers, Young Books: The Prospects of the American Rare Book Trade," on Between the Covers' website.

*Corrected July 19, 2007* Thanks to Carol Sandberg of Michael R. Thompson, Booksellers.

Comments

[Carol Sandberg, Michael R. Thompson, Booksellers]

This is just a note to let you know that your link from Michael Thompson in Los Angeles is incorrect. Michael R. Thompson Booksellers in Los Angeles has a website at: http://mrtbooksla.com.
The link you have provided is to Michael J. Thompson (Thompson Rare Books) in Vancouver, Canada. (His is a very good firm, but not associated with ours.) Also, Bill and Victoria's last name is Dailey, not Bailey or Daley. Victoria is now affiliated with California Curio Co., and Bill, of course, with William Dailey Rare Books Ltd.

[zak]

Please sen catalogues
to adress:
VIZANT ART CENTER
D.NAREDNIK.58
PRILEP_7500
MACEDONIA