In 1894, the first-ever commercial motion picture house—a Kinetoscope parlor—opened its doors in New York City. That same year, in the region that would become the movie capital of the world, Adam Clark Vroman opened a bookstore in Pasadena, California. That business, now with two locations in Los Angeles County, remains open to this day—Vroman’s is the oldest and largest independent bookstore in Southern California. Guy Lopez is one of the store’s booksellers. ZYZZYVA: What’s the coziest spot in your store for reading? GUY LOPEZ: The whole store is cozy, but the coziest spot that comes to mind is a lovely […]

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Elliott Bay Book Company opened as a small shop in Seattle’s Pioneer Square in 1973. A half-century later, Elliott Bay, now in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, is the city’s largest independent bookstore, housing more than 150,000 titles. Tracy Taylor is Elliott Bay’s co-owner (along with Joey Burgess and Murf Hall). ZYZZYVA: What’s the coziest spot in your store for reading? TRACY TAYLOR: Inside the castle in the kids’ section. It’s hidden and carpeted and when the store is quiet, it’s bliss. Z: What’s a little-known fact about your store? TT: Most of the windows at the bookstore were broken during […]

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