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Independent Booksellers in Los Angeles County
By Location

In 2006, Metropolis Books became the first non-specialty independent bookstore to open in Downtown Los Angeles since the venerable Fowler Brothers closed in 1994.

Vroman's Bookstore on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena is the oldest and largest independent bookstore in Southern California. It opened its doors n 1894.

Dawson's Book Shop on Larchmont Boulevard in Los Angeles is the oldest antiquarian bookshop in Los Angeles County. It opened its doors in 1905.

Dutton's Books on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood, owned by Davis "Dave" Dutton (brother of Doug Dutton, owner of Dutton's Brentwood Books) closed in 2006, another victim of competition with "big box" booksellers.  The store was first opened in 1961.

Brodrick & Reilly, the first bookstore in Los Angeles, opened on Spring Street in 1871.

Sisterhood Bookstore at 1351Westwood Boulevard closed in 1999 after 27 years of selling books about women.

On July 8, 2004, the venerable Midnight Special Bookstore closed its doors after more than 30 years. The bookseller first opened in in 1970 in Venice, California, to respond to the demands of young adult readers opposed to the Vietnam War and supportive of the Civil Rights Movement. The store seemed more like a political and social calling than a business, mostly run by volunteers over the next 15 years. In 1980, the store moved to a sleepy outdoor shopping are on Third Street in Santa Monica, becoming a center for political and social dissension during the Reagan years. Maya Angelou, Oliver Stone, Dave Marsh, Margaret Randall, Jello Biafra and Frank Zappa were some who held appearances at the store. The store was supportive of artist Robbie Conal who papered Los Angeles area streets with posters of "Men with No Lips" and "Women with Teeth." (Robbie Conal). They were a rallying point for the National Coalition of the Homeless. In 1992, the store moved up the street to a larger location where they opened a cultural center and welcomed such writers as Octavia Butler, bell hooks, Paul Coelho, Slavoj Zizek, Eduardo Galeano, Viggo Mortensen, Dave Eggers, Elaine Brown, Lalo Alcaraz, Khaled M. Abou El Fadl, Walter Mosley, Trinh Minh-Ha, Edward Said, Junko Mizuno, Luis Rodriguez and Tariq Ali. Competition from "big chain" booksellers, however, eventually took its toll on the independent bookseller. In 2003, declining economic fortunes and rising rents on the now-trendy Third Street Promenade forced the store move again. Despite donations and volunteers, the store was not able to reopen for eight months and the delay and resultant debts led the store to close.

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