Bookstores Dancing Between California Raindrops

by Bridget Kinsella , PW Daily for Booksellers -- Publishers Weekly, 1/13/2005

After days of record rainfall in Southern California and mudslides that made national news, booksellers in the region reported no flooding, less business and some water damage.

Several stores suffered damage. At Book'em Mysteries in South Pasadena, where sales were down 75%, co-owner Mary Riley said water had hurt books, carpeting, shelving and a wall. At Skylight Books in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, the store had a regular "leak watch," Kerry Slattery reported. "When one was fixed, others appeared." She estimated book damage at about $700.

Dutton's new store in Beverly Hills sprung a leak despite having two floors above it, and the Holy Family Bookstore in South Pasadena had a "small leak" as well.

While Once Upon a Time in Montrose reported "booming business" during the wet weekend, sales have dried up with drier weather. Jimmy Belson of Jimmy B's Audio Books in Redondo Beach said that many customers stuck in traffic were enjoying audiobooks.

At Diesel's Malibu location a bookseller told PW the bookstore was spared damage but other nearby retailers were not.

In Venice, Mary Goodfader, owner of Small World Books and Mystery Annex, reported that the sun was shining. "Of course, I am on the beach and nobody would think of coming to the bookstore," she said. "So I'm dry, but in an empty bookstore."

The weather cleared up today, and Goodfader said she thought the high winds brought the sunshine early. "It is a glorious day and it is going to continue to be a glorious day," she said, hoping that business might pick up both in the store and at the outdoor cafe.