Along with page turners, Laguna Beach Books, which opened late last
month in Laguna Beach, Calif., offers its customers an entertaining
photo opportunity. A seven-foot-tall structure stands near the front of
the store, a replica of the town's famous lifeguard tower. Already some
people have been taking pictures in front of it, according to owner
Jane Hanauer, who created the tower replica to be the focal point of a
display featuring local and regional interest maps, guidebooks and
surfing-related titles. It's lit up at night and is visible from the
Pacific Coast Highway. "It's the first thing you see when you enter the
store," said Irma Wolfson, an independent book buyer and consultant who
worked with Hanauer on the store's opening.
Laguna Beach Books is in a shopping center called the Old Pottery Place on the site of the Pottery Shack, a huge pottery shop that was well known locally. "The location is perfect," Wolfson said, "because there are so many supporting businesses around it," including an art gallery, a home store, a clothing boutique and a shoe emporium. It's also a block from the ocean, and an outdoor seating area commands a view of the Pacific.
Hanauer worked with architect Dennis Delorenzo (whom she met at BEA after hearing him speak) to design the interior of the 2,200-sq.-ft. store, which in addition to books features such items as calendars, journals and note cards with vintage images of Laguna Beach. The children's section, which Wolfson described as "one of the largest in Orange County, certainly for an independent bookstore," has a "living floor": a floor that when stopped on, lights up in the store's colors of blue, green and white, which Hanauer thought would appeal to children.
Laguna Beach Books was originally scheduled to open in May, but obtaining the necessary permits took longer than expected because of the building's historic status. Books were ordered in anticipation of the earlier opening, and since the store was not yet ready shipments went to manager Lisa Kaplan's garage before being transported to a storage facility. Despite the delay in opening, the store has received "very strong support from Laguna residents," said Hanauer, and has also benefited from the tourist clientele that frequents the town's beaches and local resorts. Hardcover fiction and political titles, noted Wolfson, are selling particularly well.
The store will hold its first event on October 28, hosting five Orange County women who contributed to the anthology Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul. (October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.) A second event will take place on November 11, when the local chapter of the American Association of University Women holds its monthly meeting at the store. Open to the public, the featured speaker will be Gene Kraig, author of The Sentence: A Family's Prison Memoir.
Hanauer, who candidly admits she has no prior bookselling experience, has made it a point of visiting bookstores during her travels, both in the U.S. and abroad. "I don't know what it's like in other industries," she said, but the countless booksellers she has talked to over the past two years have been "so good about sharing what has worked for them. They really are just wonderful." And now she can count herself among them.
Laguna Beach Books is located at 1200 S. Pacific Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach, Calif. 92203; 949-494-4779; lagunabeachbooks.com.--Shannon McKenna
Laguna Beach Books is in a shopping center called the Old Pottery Place on the site of the Pottery Shack, a huge pottery shop that was well known locally. "The location is perfect," Wolfson said, "because there are so many supporting businesses around it," including an art gallery, a home store, a clothing boutique and a shoe emporium. It's also a block from the ocean, and an outdoor seating area commands a view of the Pacific.
Hanauer worked with architect Dennis Delorenzo (whom she met at BEA after hearing him speak) to design the interior of the 2,200-sq.-ft. store, which in addition to books features such items as calendars, journals and note cards with vintage images of Laguna Beach. The children's section, which Wolfson described as "one of the largest in Orange County, certainly for an independent bookstore," has a "living floor": a floor that when stopped on, lights up in the store's colors of blue, green and white, which Hanauer thought would appeal to children.
Laguna Beach Books was originally scheduled to open in May, but obtaining the necessary permits took longer than expected because of the building's historic status. Books were ordered in anticipation of the earlier opening, and since the store was not yet ready shipments went to manager Lisa Kaplan's garage before being transported to a storage facility. Despite the delay in opening, the store has received "very strong support from Laguna residents," said Hanauer, and has also benefited from the tourist clientele that frequents the town's beaches and local resorts. Hardcover fiction and political titles, noted Wolfson, are selling particularly well.
The store will hold its first event on October 28, hosting five Orange County women who contributed to the anthology Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul. (October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.) A second event will take place on November 11, when the local chapter of the American Association of University Women holds its monthly meeting at the store. Open to the public, the featured speaker will be Gene Kraig, author of The Sentence: A Family's Prison Memoir.
Hanauer, who candidly admits she has no prior bookselling experience, has made it a point of visiting bookstores during her travels, both in the U.S. and abroad. "I don't know what it's like in other industries," she said, but the countless booksellers she has talked to over the past two years have been "so good about sharing what has worked for them. They really are just wonderful." And now she can count herself among them.
Laguna Beach Books is located at 1200 S. Pacific Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach, Calif. 92203; 949-494-4779; lagunabeachbooks.com.--Shannon McKenna