“I did not see the death of the printed word,” Marcia says without the slightest smidgen of doubt in her voice. The fact that independent bookstores - in Ojai as well as around the country - were failing, and that even the national chain store Barnes and Noble was repeatedly threatened with bankruptcy, did not shake her optimism. It forced you to drive to Santa Barbara, and even on State Street bookstores were closing.” “Bart’s was the only, and they didn’t offer many new books. The partners bought the building in Meiners Oaks in 2011, and spent nearly a year and a half in preparation for opening.ĭuring this time Ojai was losing bookstores. Even the grim business of the Great Recession could not crush her dream, a dream that Celeste says eventually won her over. Marcia had long had a professional interest in books, and haunted antiquarian stores and book fairs for decades, thinking about a bookstore of her own, and dragging her partner Celeste along. It’s not your usual bookstore.Ĭeleste Matesevac and Marcia Doty, the owners, moved to Ojai from Orange County in the 1990s, where they had worked in corporate jobs. Among the thousands of books are small but well-curated exhibits, of Apple computers, going back to their early days in the l980s, as well as a wooden phone booth full of vintage phones, and a well-curated display of uranium glass dishes, which glow as if lit from within. It’s a fact that the uniqueness of Book Ends takes more than a glance to appreciate. “A lot of people think we’re a library, when they first come in here,” Marcia notes. “It’s a real compliment, and also it’s something I think that people are missing in their lives.” “People come in here every day and look around and often what they say is, wow, this is a real bookstore,” says Celeste M. This is a sanctuary, it’s clear, for books and for people who love books. Marcia Doty, one of the two partners who own the business goes over every incoming book with a large dry paint brush, wipes its covers clean, and, if the “gently read” used book deserves it, adds a collector’s style clear cover, of the same sort used by libraries. This is Book Ends, one of the larger used book stores in the valley. Inside the big white building you’ll find 20,000 volumes, each and every one neatly and thoughtfully shelved and, it turns out, thoroughly clean and dusted. If you don’t see the “Bookstore and Curiosities” sign posted high over the front door, you might wonder: What’s going on here?Īt a glance, one thing is clear - this entire property has been remade with love, for the sake of attracting visitors to this literary haven in Meiners Oaks. One might wonder: what’s up with that church? For the building, in fact, once was a church, but now is surrounded by icons and curios, including a backyard-sized Statue of Liberty, draped in festive lights, a small Airstream full of nature and outdoor living books, and an attractive garden patio. Glance at the substantial whitewashed structure - with a steeply pitched roof - standing at a corner in downtown Meiners Oaks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |