The owner of Vroman's, a historic independent bookstore in Pasadena, is looking to sell his two locations in the city, along with Book Soup in West Hollywood.
The oldest bookstore in Southern California, the bookstore was founded in 1895 and has been in the same family for more than a century. Its current owner, Joel Sheldon, who is approaching his 80th birthday, announced his intention to sell early Thursday, adding that he is retiring after nearly 50 years running the establishment.
“Vroman's deserves a new owner with the vision, energy and commitment to successfully take it into the future,” Sheldon wrote in a declaration shared on the store's social media accounts. He acknowledged the change in ownership as “a time of some uncertainty,” but also expressed “optimism and excitement for what the future can bring for Vroman and our community.”
Along with his original flagship, Sheldon also intends to sell Vroman's in Pasadena's Hastings Ranch shopping center and Book Soup in West Hollywood, as first reported in the Pasadena Star-News. Sheldon told the publication that he has 123 employees at the Colorado Boulevard flagship location, 13 at Hastings Ranch and 18 at Book Soup.
“We will take the time necessary to find the right new owner: someone who shares our core values and is committed to preserving Vroman's as a community treasure,” the statement continued, adding that they hope to “avoid any type of disruption” to its operations. clients and dozens of employees.
Vroman's acquired Book Soup, a West Hollywood mainstay since 1975, nearly 15 years ago.
Book Soup booksellers unionized in the summer of 2022, following other independent bookstores in California, including Bookshop Santa Cruz, Moe's Books in Berkeley, and Skylight Books in Los Feliz.
The Book Soup union requested pay increases and additional staffing; Among their concerns were disability access, fairer distribution of work, greater transparency from leadership, and “democratic decision-making in the workplace,” according to a social media post from 2022. In October, the union was still negotiating with Sheldon and the store. management. It was not immediately clear whether they had reached an agreement.
The union drive came on the heels of financial struggles at stores, largely sparked by a recession and COVID-era closures. Vroman's had continued operating at the height of the pandemic to avoid losses. Organization efforts at Sheldon's stores were not mentioned as a factor in his sale announcement.
In 1895, Adam Clark Vroman, a former railroad worker, bibliophile, and photographer, new to the San Gabriel Valley, partnered with J.S. Glasscock and began selling Vroman's large collection of books at his store on Colorado Boulevard.
The store quickly became a community center in the growing city, attracting traveling dignitaries, engineers, scientists, finance men, and New York book publishers as customers. The store would become a favorite of celebrated science fiction author and Pasadena native Octavia E. Butler, and would host Presidents Clinton and Carter and literary figures Ray Bradbury and Joan Didion.
Former Times staff writer Dorany Pineda and contributing writer Lynell George contributed to this report.
