Category: | Used Book Store |
Address: | 453 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90013, USA |
Phone: | +1 213-488-0599 |
Site: | lastbookstorela.com |
Rating: | 4.7 |
Working: | 10AM–10PM 10AM–10PM 10AM–10PM 10AM–10PM 10AM–11PM 10AM–11PM 10AM–9PM |
AM
Amy Gatten
HORRIBLE. I had the worst experience with the staff at this store, offensive & scary. I tried to do what they wanted & she yelled at me. I agreed OK Ill put them down, but she raised her voice again: "You put those books down now!" I walked quickly back to the childrens dept , put the books on the appropriate shelf & hurried out of the store - only stopping because my husband caught my arm on the way out the door asking Where are you going? & told him "Ive gotta get out of here! Im not buying anything here. She yelled at me. Im leaving. Ill wait for you outside.I cant do this." My husband had heard about The Last Bookstore & wanted to take me there. We know downtown LA parking, expected to pay for parking & we had two boxes of books set aside for charitable donations which included mystery, sci-fi, romance, kids books, & pregnancy books. We parked for a few minutes in a metered spot, brought the books in, asked if they recommended any lots, then my husband went to move the car & I browsed. That was our first indication there was something weird: one of the staff suggested "One of you could just wait in the car." My husband said "But metered parking only lasts for another 25 minutes, then its illegal on that side." She said nothing. My husband found me after Id looked through the music section & had found my way to the childrens section. I wasnt interested in buying any music & after the kids, was planning to look through sci-fi & romance. My husband said ok, call me & get whatever you want (wed both taken the afternoon off & our 3 yo was at daycare. I selected three books, found several favorite books of my sons and grinned as if meeting old friends, and wondered about two collections & what my husbands opinion of them might be. Basically, I was looking at dropping $50+ in kids books alone-regardless of what the used book credit totaled. One of the staff, a younger gal approached me "Your books are ready" I figured I was done in that section, I called my husband asking where he was & said our books were ready for buyout & could he take care of that for me. Excitedly, "You have to come see the second floor! Its amazing." I was now basically in the middle of the store, about 5-10 feet from the kids books, looking around. I laughed & said "Ok, how do I get to this fabled second floor?" An older woman whod earlier suggested I should wait in the car overheard me at that point & told me "Use the elevator, but put those books down first." I said to her "Ok", nodded, then said to my husband "OK, Ill wait here for you. You see about the boxed books and there are a couple books here that I want to ask you about." I dont know if the lady heard me say Id stay where I was or if she didnt understand that I was holding a phone to my ear, but she raised her voice at that point, saying "You cant go upstairs, put those books down first." At this point, I put both hands out in front of me, placatingly, faced her, said "Ok, Ill put them down. Im not going upstairs." I was holding my phone in one hand & two books in the other - had my hands been free it would have looked like I was trying to pacify an angered animal. She again raised her voice "You put those books down now!" Thats when I escaped. I wont return to The Last Bookstore. I wasnt carrying a purse or any bags of any sort. I wouldnt put books on the floor, so I returned the two books to their shelf, & scurried away. My husband is super disappointed. But in that instance, what would you have done?
JU
Juvi Guevara
Lovers of the written word, rejoice! For wordporn Heaven awaits! It is far too easy to pass up this place. Atrocious, overpriced parking facilities, horrid LA traffic, and shady surroundings aside, one just wouldnt expect such a Harry-Potter-esque bookstore to exist in what once used to be a huge bank. Even when you walk in, you have no idea of the actual scope of this place until you walk towards the back stairs and ascend into what has been aptly dubbed: "The Labyrinth." As you reach the top, youre greeted by row upon row of bookshelves laden with Fantasy stories, and passing that, you can see an amazing architectural wonder known as the "Book Tunnel." How they get those books so perfectly placed as to hold each other up in such a unique fashion is beyond me. Even more amazing is the fact that no one has actually thought to pull one out, just to see what happens. Further in, you walk into more book labyrinths of many different varieties, as well as vintage art, old sofas, murals, and even a tiny room- also filled with books, of course- with "futuristic" gizmos reminiscent of the 50s & 60s. Just as you think youre coming to the end of it, more rooms open up to your left, and you realize youre just getting started. As you descend some stairs, you come upon the art gallery section, which has several different rooms that seem to have their own charming themes. In one, you can find vintage items for sale, such as old cameras, antique books, unique jewelry & accessories, & even scented candles. Further in, you come across what was probably my favorite room with a sort of Victorian-Safari-Steampunk theme going on. Here you can find art, books, & more jewelry. Even further than that, there are more art galleries featuring art by local artists with a slightly more urban vibe, making this gallery one of the best & most well-rounded galleries Ive seen in a while. Theres even a sections with Christmas lights & giant crochet pieces all over over the walls, giving this already eccentric bookstore an even greater Alice In Wonderland feel. The great thing about the Labyrinth is that you dont need to double back to go back to where you started; if you just keep walking, youll end up at the bottom again, near the used records section. (Yes, they sell those, too). I can go on and on about this most unique of bookstores, but Ill the leave the rest of the surprises & adventures up to you to discover. Even if youre the type to only "read" books with pictures in them, the visual presentation of this place offers so much to take in that you may just want to take a day to lose yourself in the wonders it holds.
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Alessandro Cima
Look, Ive been a habitual bookstore browser and frequent buyer for my entire life. I was very good friends with the owner of the recently closed Metropolis Books over on Main Street, just a few blocks from The Last Bookstores current location. In fact, I purchased thousands of dollars in books and art from her. I love books, read tons of them, buy hundreds of them. Okay? Great. Well, not so great with the bizarre security posture going on over at the Last Bookstore. They are currently trying to imitate Amoeba with one of those security guards stationed behind a counter with a bunch of cubbyholes right inside the front door. Youre supposed to walk in and hand over your bag to this guy for placement in a hole while you shop - assuming your bag is larger than an average purse. I carry my camera bag with me almost everywhere I go. It contains thousands of dollars worth of equipment that I am never under any circumstances going to hand over to a guy with a security jacket behind a counter thats within three strides of the open sidewalk. No way ever. Sorry for my presumption. When I pointed this out to the manager of the place to ask if I could please come in to look for something to buy without risking my gear I was very rudely told that I would have to submit to an inspection of my bag on the way out. He also wanted to know what I had in my bag. I told him I really wanted to buy books and would under no circumstances list my bags contents or allow it to be inspected on my way out. He told me he would not allow me into the store. I said that was fine and that I was more than happy to use the iPad inside my bag to purchase the books I would otherwise have given him money for. I understand that stealing is a problem for any retail business. But we do have civilized people out there in downtown L.A. who are looking for books. They are often carrying things of far more value than even a six-foot stack of books. A business owner is basically telling the customer to put at risk what they own in order to protect a few books. Thats a bad deal and is not the proper way to treat customers. One would have to be an imbecile to hand over a camera bag to a security guard. I really want a different book store to go to in downtown L.A. since I now live there and would prefer to deal with people of intelligence who want to build their businesses geared toward readers and customers instead of obsessing on the few book snatchers that may wander in. I mainly post this so that the owner of The Last Bookstore will do away with the stupidity at the door.