For longevity and community loyalty, it’s hard to compete with Warwick’s. Now in its 128th year, the family enterprise draws in beach vacationers and residents of the Village of La Jolla, Calif.
“We have customers who shopped there as teenagers, then brought their kids, and now they’re bringing their grandkids,” says events director Julie Slavinsky, a Warwick’s staffer since 2010. “I started shopping in the store in 1979, when I moved down from L.A.”
Technically, Warwick’s has been a La Jolla fixture since 1939. William T. Warwick founded the bookstore in Mankato, Minn., in 1896; moved it to Waterloo, Iowa, in 1916; and then went west to California. His son, Wynn, worked as a McNally map salesman before buying the store in 1950. The store’s fourth-generation owner is Nancy Warwick, William’s great-granddaughter, who learned the ropes from her parents, Bob and Marian.
“My parents had a very close relationship and liked working together,” says Nancy. “Even though they raised us to feel like the store was a family business, they never pressured us to take over.” She completed a Ph.D. in anthropology and worked with Mexican immigrant survivors of domestic violence before returning to lead Warwick’s. Her sister Cathy Warwick-O’Neill, who holds a 10% ownership interest, chose a teaching career.
The heartbeat of the village
Warwick’s boasts a 7,000-square-foot sales floor divided between books and a selection of gifts, stationery, office supplies, and art supplies. In 2021, the store’s 125th anniversary year, Warwick’s landlords unexpectedly announced a plan to sell to another party. In a swift show of support, area investors raised money, bought the building, and leased it back to Warwick’s.
“The community came together and contributed to the store’s necessary survival,” says author and editor Neva Sullaway (Chasing Dreamtime), who lives nearby. Sullaway calls Warwick’s “the heartbeat of the village” for the way it “accommodates local author book signings” and brings “nationally and internationally known authors to the community.”
About three dozen staffers, 12 of them full-time, operate the shop and facilitate the literary calendar. “We have a vibrant events program,” says Slavinsky, who arranges Booked for Lunch, ticketed luncheons with touring authors including the likes of Anna Quindlen and Amanda Eyre Ward. “The author gets double exposure when they come to San Diego” and put La Jolla on their itinerary, plus “the tickets are book bundles, and publishers love that.” In addition to Booked for Lunch, Warwick’s also stages readings with creators such as Kevin Kwan and Deborah Harkness.
Because small-press authors like the spotlight too, Warwick’s features a regional author every Sunday as part of its Weekends with Locals. The author gets a two-hour table signing, advertised on the store website and on a flyer. “I get a lot of feedback from the writing community in San Diego, thanking us for giving them a place to highlight and promote their books,” Slavinsky says.
“It’s great for the whole store, because it brings more people in on Sunday,” Warwick agrees. “Customers are there to support the author, and they’re definitely going to come back.”
Sales reps participate in Warwick’s events as well, thanks to Tea Time Book Recommendations, every Monday at 4 p.m. PT on Facebook Live. Tea Time began in response to pandemic closures, as a way for booksellers and reps to pitch exciting titles. “We were always great at handselling, and we figured out a way to do it online,” Slavinsky says. Now, “we have customers watching from all over the country,” and an email newsletter listing of Tea Time recommendations.
With a selection of literary fiction, cookbooks, and general titles, plus dependable, inviting events, Warwick’s remains “an anchor business” for La Jolla’s core community and visitors alike, Nancy Warwick says. “We have regulars that come by every single day.”
