Earlier this week we reported on Chevalier’s Books‘ call for support in moving to the next chapter of the bookstore’s 80-year history on Larchmont Blvd. And we are pleased to report the response from the community has been very enthusiastic, with the story widely covered by other media outlets.
The Los Angeles Times reported Chevalier’s isn’t the only local bookstore facing a challenge:
“The Hancock Park shop joins a growing list of independent bookstores asking for financial help from their customers. Some — like Hollywood’s Larry Edmunds Bookshop and Diesel, A Bookstore — launched GoFundMes to help keep their businesses alive as the novel coronavirus continued to impact sales.
Others, like Vroman’s Bookstore and now Chevalier’s, are urging readers to keep buying from them, especially as the holiday season approaches. These two bookstores are the latest to make urgent community appeals in order to stave off grave losses.
The end of Chevalier’s lease has added another stressor to the Larchmont bookstore: Along with other businesses in the building on Larchmont Boulevard, they have to vacate by Dec. 31.”
In our previous reporting on the plans proposed by Christina Development, the new owner of Chevalier’s building, we got answers that left us wondering about the company’s reported commitment to keep the local legacy businesses in place. Here’s what Christina president and founder Lawrence N. Taylor told the Los Angeles Times:
“The previous owner of the property set all tenant leases to expire at the end of 2020,” Taylor told The Times in an email. “This decision was intentional so the building could undergo necessary repairs, which are long overdue.” The company wanted to keep businesses running during the restoration, he said, but that “the noise and disturbances” would be too disruptive to tenants.
“We welcome and encourage all existing tenants to return to the building and will initiate those conversations once we have a firm date for completion,” he said, adding that he still expects the storefronts to be occupied by “smaller, neighborhood-friendly tenants.”
The statement did not say what the owners expect the business tenants to do during the two years that the building will be under restoration. All we know is that Chevalier’s and others like Landis Gifts and Stationery and the Larchmont Barber Shop will have to move. Fortunately, Chevalier’s has found a new space…but that’s not yet the case for Landis and the Barber Shop.
We hope the attention focused on Chevalier’s is a good sign for other Larchmont businesses that are also facing tough times thanks to the pandemic. Here’s some of the other news coverage, in case you missed it.
Spectrum News 1 reported:
“Since the call for help, the store’s fortunes have flipped.
“You’d think it was a Saturday in the middle of the Christmas season,” Chevalier’s acting manager Theresa Phung said.
The store’s typical Monday business increased by five times after the letter went out.
“It seems that people are willing to, quite frankly, put their money where their mouths are.”
Another story by ABC7 reporter Miriam Hernandez ran on KABC’s 5 p.m. Eyewitness News yesterday, click here or the image below for Hernandez’s story.
This story was updated to include the link to KABC’s news story.
Glad to have the Rotary pumpkin patch return! Thought it was a goner.
These small town treasures make Larchmont charming.
Also, I stopped in to Chevaliers the other day to purchase a book for a fun read.
Glad to hear that many others are “on the same page”.