The Last Bookstore
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The Last Bookstore is California's largest used and new book and record store, having opened in 2005 in a an abandoned bank in Downtown L.A. It has grown since into a softly lit labyrinthine collection of books and records, with space for literary, musical and theatrical events.
It encourages selling and trading of books and records based on its fluctuating inventory needs, as part of a mission to "keep the paper and ink book business alive in an era of e-readers and digital downloads".
The marble pillars and mile-high ceiling remain from the old bank, but in place of patrons and guarded stacks of cash, bookshelves line the walls and artful displays of books abound.
The bookshelves are placed every which way all throughout the store, and sculptures have been custom-built from overstocked or damaged copies. There are even hidden nooks, like the old bank vault itself, where books are actually displayed like a vault.
*Downtown Los Angeles
453 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90013, U.S.A*