Josh Spencer expands the Last Bookstore

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A bookseller's trend-defying tale
As others retreat, Josh
Spencer moves the
Last Bookstore into
bigger downtown digs.
CAROLYN KELLOGG
Before launching a busi-
ness, some people invest in
market research and feasi-
bility studies. Josh Spencer
is not one of those people -
otherwise he might never
have opened his downtown
L.A. used bookstore in De-
cember 2009, let alone
moved it a few blocks away
this month to a 10,000-
square-foot space. "I haven't really interact-
ed with other business own-
ers or bookstore owners,"
says Spencer, owner of what
hesays is the ironically
named the Last Bookstore.
"I've always just done what I
do, and it seems to work."
Following his instincts
means going against the
grain. This month, two long-
time Southern California
bookstores ? one in Laguna
Beach and another in Pacific
Palisades - announced
they'll be closing, and Me-
tropolis Books in downtown
L.A. was put up for sale by its
owner. In February, Borders
filed for Chapter 11 bank-
ruptcy, closing hundreds of
storesnationwide. After
JAY L. CLENDENIN Los Angeles Times
MIX OF OLD AND NEW: Spencer's used bookstore has taken up residence in
10,000 square feet in the Springs Arts Tower in downtown Los Angeles.
The light fixtures are new,:up and, Spencer hopes,
waves of closures, many
have wondered if brick-and-
mortar bookstores can sur-
vive Amazon and e-books.
Located on the ground
floor of the SpringArts
Tower downtown, the Last
Bookstore is a mix of old and
new. It has pillars stretching
25 feet up to a painted, vault-
ed ceiling; underfoot are in-
termittent mosaics, all part
of the former Citizens Na-
tional Bank, which opened
in its grand location in 1915.
created from bicycle wheels films. "My dream was to cre-
by Brad Goldhorn, and high ate one giant space where
on the south wall flows a everything I thought was
sculpture made of wire and cool would be in one place,"
he says. "Hopefully, other
old paperbacks created by
Mike Piscitello, a student at people will come in and
Share it with me."
SCI-Arc.
Tucked under wheel- The space got a new coat
equipped bookshelves is a of paint with the help of fam-
ily and friends. "There's not
new, low stage where bands
a lot of money that went into
perform regularly. One of
any ofthis," Spencer says. "It
the 15 people who works for
Spencer books bands; thea- was just people working
ter events are also coming [See Bookstore, D9]

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°89
LAPIMES.COM/CALENDAR Los Angeles Times WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, D9
Working 'to make something great happen'
[Bookstore, from D1]
hard, doing what they love,
to make something great
happen."
Scratch under the old
style and the dark stain and
some bookshelves might
look familiar; several ofthem
came from a closing Borders
store in Glendale. "We scav-
enged the bones of the cor-
porate giant," Spencer says.
Spaces in the Spring Arts
Tower typically rent for $1.50
to $1.80 per square foot, but
Spencer got a deal when he
signed a three-year lease on
the space. The corner at 5th
and Spring, though at the
center of downtown's art dis-
trict and home to destina-
tions like the Gorbals res-
gritty. At 12:20 p.m. on May 10, as people were getting the Last Bookstore space into shape, a suspected drug JAY L. CLENDENIN Los Angeles Times
VIEWS ON THE BUSINESS: "I think there's always going to be a great market
for books," says Josh Spencer, with wife Heidi, but he adds a qualifier.
dealer was killed by an
undercover LAPD officer
real, that there's an intersec-
are criminals, people who
just across the street.
are in city government, peo-
o "There's a slight element
do towns tuture pand downtown's future
ple who are artists ? it's all
of danger," Spencer
present. People at all differ-
together. I think that's vi-
knowledges. "I like that it's
ent places in life, people who
brant and essential, and I
think that's why so many
people are moving down-
town."
Of course, many book
buyers have moved online,
and that's where Spencer
started too, selling furniture,
music and cars. Books, he
decided, were easier to man-
age, and he's continued to
house books in a nearby
warehouse while selling on-
line.
But six months ago, for
the first time, bookstore
sales overtook online sales.
And that was when the Last
Bookstore was located in a
1,000-square-foot space on
Main Street.
"We sold more books here
in the first three days than
we did in an entire month at
our last location," Spencer
says.
"It seems to be working,
by having a larger space and
being on Spring Street, a
much heavier foot-traffic
Trying to remake the
idea of the used bookstore
with dusty, ancient stock,
Spencer's staff gets fresh
books into circulation daily
- hundreds of books a day,
he says. Currently the store
has a bounty of art books,
many from a single collector.
Priced to sell - hardcover
fiction averages about $5
books move quickly. Those
that don't wind up in the $1
bargain zone in the entry-
way, and then donated else-
where
"I think books are going
to become sort of like vinyl is
now: the province of people
who appreciate things that
are well made, appreciate
craft in graphics and cre-
ativity they can feel," Spen-
cer, 36, says. "I think there's
always going to be a great
market for books, but it's
definitely going to shrink to
those who value and enjoy
the ritual of browsing
through books and holding
books and turning pages.
That's gradually going to be-
come less and less, as the
generations pass. This
might be the last generation,
I think."
Making the name of his
store not so ironic after all.
carolyn.kellogg@
latimes.com