Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Hollywood's Book City To Close? Or - Will It Move Downtown?

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hollywood4oct04,1,4998152.story?coll=la-headlines-california

First, the bad news:

Lisa RichardsonTimes Staff Writer October 4, 2005

The longest going-out-of-business sale on Hollywood Boulevard is ending. Book City Collectibles, the once-cavernous landmark beloved by neighborhood book junkies and film buffs for 32 years, is finally leaving.

Probably.

When the sign announcing Book City's closure went up in the front window four years ago, area bibliophiles panicked. Ten thousand people signed a petition declaring its importance to the neighborhood. Then, somehow, owner Alan Siegel, 76, never left.

"I'm a guy who's a slow mover," Siegel explained. A slim man in suspenders and a baseball cap, Siegel spoke in front of the store's towering bookshelves still comfortably loaded with 50,000 volumes.

Now the... possible... good news:

With the end in sight, Mitch Siegel said he is eyeing a location downtown, which is having its own residential boom.

Now while I can not say any more at this time, I will tell you that if Book City does move downtown - you will find it out first on... LA Cowboy.

Stay tuned!

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