One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
Samuel French Will Close Its Legendary LA Bookstore After 90 Years In Business
Samuel French Bookshop (Image via Google maps)
Anyone coming to Los Angeles with dreams of making googly-eyes at Bradley Cooper during the Academy Awards will have a different experience than previous aspiring actors. As of March 31, longstanding theater and film bookstore Samuel French will close its doors in Hollywood.
The small, cozy shop, which opened in 1929, has been at its current location on Sunset Boulevard and Stanley Avenue since 1947. It stocks its shelves with scripts, plays, screenplays, books about writing, histories of Hollywood, biographies of film industry luminaries and other film and theater books.
According to a statement given to American Theatre, the store is closing for reasons we're all pretty familiar with by now -- people are buying their books and scripts online.
"Although the community loves the store and its exceptional staff, most people are choosing to buy their books from e-retailers these days," Samuel French president Nathan Collins said in the statement. "It is an unfortunate situation, in which many other bookshops find themselves."
On Twitter, the retailer wrote that its London shop will stay open, and that it will continue to sell its wares online.
Today, we announce the closing of our Bookshop at the end of March. Our deepest gratitude goes to the staff & customers who made this a beloved landmark. We look forward to still making theatre happen through @SamuelFrenchLtd's London Bookshop & online: https://t.co/OSyjw6jso7.
— Samuel French Bkshop (@SamFrenchBkshp) February 25, 2019
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
