Pickwick Book Shop#Building
{{Short description|Former independent Bookstore in Los Angeles, California}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Pickwick Book Shop
| logo =
| image =
| foundation = 1938
| defunct = 1979
| founder = Louis Epstein
| fate = bought by Dayton Hudson
| successor = B. Dalton
| owner =
| key_people = Louis Epstein, Dayton Hudson
| location_city = Los Angeles
| location_country = United States
| locations = 16 at its peak
| area_served = Southern California
| industry = Specialty retail
}}
Pickwick Book Shop was an independent bookstore located at 6741-6745 W. Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. The store was popular with many film and literary figures, and was known as the "supermarket of books."{{Cite web |accessdate=July 8, 2024 |title=Pickwick Book Shop (Hollywood) |url=https://waterandpower.org/Museum2/Pickwick_Book_Shop.html |publisher=Water and Power Associates |language=en}}
History
Louis Epstein purchased his first bookstore, a tiny bookshop attached to a gunsmith shop in Long Beach, California, in 1925. He soon moved his business to downtown Los Angeles, renaming it Epstein's Used Books. The store focused on literature and poetry.
In the early 1930s, a movie studio inquired with Epstein about renting 5000 books to be used as props, to which they agreed to a price of $0.05 {{USDCY|.05|1931}} per book per day for thirty days. The books were returned about a year later, and when the studio attempted to pay for only the original thirty days, Epstein phoned his lawyer who extracted the full amount. Epstein's lawyer then refused to give Epstein the money, fearing Epstein would "spend it foolishly buying more books and having a good time." Instead, he told Epstein to find a building to buy and he would release the money into escrow for it. In 1938, Epstein used this account to open Pickwick Book Shop, which he named after the 1836 Charles Dickens' book The Pickwick Papers.
Pickwick Book Shop was a three-story bookshop located at 6743 W. Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, and was immensely popular with film and literary insiders, as well as the general public. During its heyday, notable figures such as F Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Chandler, William Faulkner, Humphrey Bogart, and Marlene Dietrich frequented the shop, and Orson Welles, Peter Finch, Marlon Brando, and Ray Bradbury were known to visit as well.{{Cite book |date=2005 |title=The Story of Hollywood: An Illustrated History |page=329 |author=Gregory Paul Williams |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9W4R_CZtFe8C |publisher=BL Press LLC |isbn=978-0-9776299-0-9 |language=en}}
Pickwick Book Shop eventually expanded into the building west of it, and fifteen additional locations also opened around southern California.
In 1968, Dayton Hudson, founder of B. Dalton, bought the Pickwick chain, and in 1979, he consolidated the names of all his stores.
Building
File:Pickwick bldg detailing.jpg
At its greatest expanse, Pickwick Book Shop occupied two neighboring buildings in Hollywood, at 1708 N McCadden Place and 6741-6745 Hollywood Boulevard. The buildings, built in 1917 and 1925, collectively feature three distinct architecture styles, each one associated with Hollywood in its heyday. The McCadden facade features commercial brick vernacular, the McCadden Pl./Hollywood Blvd. corner features an Art Deco facade with stylized concrete designs, and the Hollywood facade features Churrigueresque detailing.{{Cite web |title=Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/236d3254-47ee-4b31-9045-c2999cc465f2/ |publisher=United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service |date=April 4, 1985 |language=en-US}}
In 1984, the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District was added to the National Register of Historic Places, with the two buildings and three architectural styles detailed above, collectively named "Pickwick Books", listed as a contributing property in the district.
In 1996, the building was sold for $580,000 {{USDCY|580000|1996}},{{Cite web |title=6743 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028 |url=https://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Property/16443783/6743-Hollywood-Blvd-Los-Angeles-CA-90028/ |publisher=PropertyShark |accessdate=July 16, 2024 |language=en-US}} and as of 2024, it is home to a Starbucks, souvenir shop, and Taco Bell Cantina.{{Cite web |title=Starbucks |url=https://hollywoodpartnership.com/go/starbucks-1 |publisher=Hollywood Partnership |accessdate=July 9, 2024 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Best Souvenirs (Hollywood Sports and Gifts) |url=https://hollywoodpartnership.com/go/best-souvenirs |publisher=Hollywood Partnership |accessdate=July 9, 2024 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Taco Bell in Hollywood, CA - 6741 Hollywood Blvd |url=https://locations.tacobell.com/ca/hollywood/6741-hollywood-blvd.html |publisher=Taco Bell |accessdate=July 9, 2024 |language=en-US}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Greater Hollywood}}
{{HBCED}}
Category:Independent bookstores of the United States
Category:Bookstores in Los Angeles
Category:Bookstores established in the 20th century
Category:Culture of Hollywood, Los Angeles
Category:History of Hollywood, Los Angeles
Category:Buildings and structures in Hollywood, Los Angeles
Category:Historic district contributing properties in California