The Last Bookstore
| Industry | Specialty retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Founder | Josh Spencer |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Number of locations | 3 |
Area served | Los Angeles metropolitan area |
| Products | New, used and rare books |
| Owner | Josh Spencer |
Number of employees | 50+ |
| Website | lastbookstorela |
The Last Bookstore is an independent bookstore located at 453 S Spring Street, Downtown Los Angeles. Conde Nast Traveler called it California’s largest new and used bookstore.[1]
History
The store was founded in 2005 by Josh Spencer, the first incarnation being inside a Downtown Los Angeles loft. While here, the store sold books and other items online. In December 2009, Spencer opened a bookstore at 4th and Main Street. The bookstore moved to its current 22,000 square feet (2,000 m2) location in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring Street on June 3, 2011.[2][3][4][5] The current store, a former bank, contains two floors (including the former vault) and also creates visual merchandising through creative displays and book sculptures.[5]
In 2021, the bookstore installed a plant wall to the famous book tunnel. The store also features a restaurant: Yuko Kitchen.[6]
Other locations
In December 2024, The Last Bookstore opened a second 10,000 square feet (930 m2) location in Studio City.[7] The Last Bookstore's owners also own a "sister" location in Montrose, California.[8]
Media
Filmmaker Chad Howitt chronicled The Last Bookstore and its owner, Spencer, in a short documentary titled Welcome to the Last Bookstore, released in 2016.[9] The bookstore also appeared in Gone Girl and Under the Silver Lake,[10][11] and it was featured in Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.[12]
References
- ^ "The Last Bookstore: Our Review". Conde Nast. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
- ^ Bartlett, James (14 May 2014). "Josh Spencer: The Last Bookstore Owner". LA Weekly. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
- ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (15 June 2011). "Downtown L.A.'s the Last Bookstore defies trends". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
- ^ "Inside 'The Last Bookstore' in Downtown Los Angeles". Untapped Cities.
- ^ a b Chittal, Nisha (19 December 2018). "Independent bookstores are growing — and Instagram helped". Vox.
- ^ "The Last Bookstore Los Angeles Installs Living Plant Wall at New Location". Sunset Magazine. 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
- ^ Pederson, Erik (December 16, 2024). "See inside The Last Bookstore Studio City's massive, just-opened bookstore". Los Angeles Daily News.
- ^ Pederson, Erik (August 20, 2021). "Enter the overgrown tunnel of plants into Montrose's Lost Books, sister to LA's Last Bookstore". Los Angeles Daily News.
- ^ Ajaka, Nadine (August 18, 2016). "The Man Behind 'The Last Bookstore'". The Atlantic.
- ^ "Gone Girl – Filming & Production". IMDb. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ "Under the Silver Lake – Filming & Production". IMDb. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ Turchiano, Danielle (13 January 2021). "Netflix Announces Elisa Lam Docuseries 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 21 January 2021.