ANDREA KIM Sheldon McArthur prepares for
the Saturday opening of his new Westwood Village shop, Mystery
Bookstore on Broxton Avenue.
By Christine Byrd
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
In the movie “You’ve Got Mail,” a
children’s bookstore struggles to stay open in the shadow of
a chain bookstore but is forced to close. Sheldon McArthur is
hoping life will not imitate art.
McArthur has two passions: books and Westwood. Both are
converging on Saturday, when he opens Mystery Bookstore at 1036
Broxton Ave.
When he was 16, McArthur got his first job at Campbell’s
Bookstore, the oldest book retailer in Westwood.
“I was already addicted to books and said,
“˜I’m not ever slinging hamburgers again,'”
McArthur said.
McArthur then worked at the UCLA book store, where he met his
wife, until he graduated in 1972.
Every paying job McArthur has held since that burger-flipping
stint has been at a bookstore.
But over the years, independent bookstores in Westwood
disappeared, and last year, the final survivor packed up.
Soon after, McArthur said he was approached by a Westwood
resident who asked him to move his bookstore from West Hollywood,
where it had been open for 12 years, back to his hometown of
Westwood.
“He wanted to convince me Westwood is the place to come
back to, and since I had literally grown up in Westwood, I know it
intimately and I know Westwood has gone through a lot of highs and
lows,” McArthur said.
“I’ve always been a fan of Westwood,” he
said.
The timing was perfect. McArthur said his lease was up and the
rent was too high, so he knew he needed to find a new location.
His store is a “destination bookstore,” meaning
people come for what he specializes in ““ mystery books, which
he says was his favorite genre since childhood.
They also come for the book signings and special events that
occur one to three times each week.
When it came time to relocate, McArthur said he asked his
customers if they would follow him to Westwood and the response was
positive.
He hopes more bookstores will follow his lead and return to
Westwood, but he admits they would need to be specialty bookstores
like his own.
“The world of book-selling has changed a lot since I was
in (Westwood),” he said.
“To truly succeed as an independent bookseller, you become
a specialty book seller,” he continued.
Independent bookstores across the nation have faced similar
situations, where chain bookstores with lower prices and wider
selections devour the market.
But those who are passionate about independent bookstores lament
this change in the market.
“I don’t like chain bookstores because they have no
personality,” said Maggie Sarkissian, buyer and manager of
the Gallery Bookstore located inside the Armand Hammer Museum.
“I’m very happy that an independent mystery
bookstore is open in Westwood,” she said.
Community members tend to go to the UCLA Store on campus and
Borders Books and Music just south of the Village for their general
book needs.
Though it is these larger bookstores that some independent
owners see as the enemy, Guy Adams, manager of UCLA Bookzone, said
he doesn’t believe independent bookstores will be
competition.
“I think in this day and age, it’s outstanding for
any independent book store to come in anywhere,” Adams
said.
“I think Westwood is long overdue for a
revitalization,” he added.
Adams said UCLA Bookzone focuses on the students, faculty and
staff and their needs, such as academic books and computer
texts.
Though there will be some crossover in the consumers targeted by
UCLA Bookzone and the Mystery Bookstore, Adams said they will be
serving different communities.
“They, as do we, tend to focus on their own
communities,” Adams said.
MYSTERY BOOKSTORE SIGNINGS Saturday,
October 14 1:00 p.m. Hallie Ephron signs "Amnesia" 3:00
p.m. Anne Perry signs "Slaves of Obsession" Thursday,
October 19 7:00 p.m. Carolina Garcia-Aguilera signs
"Havana Heat" Friday, October 20 7:00 p.m. Peter
Robinson reads from and signs "Cold is the Grave" Saturday,
October 21 2:00 p.m. Archer Mayor signs "The Marble Mask"
Saturday, October 28 2:00 p.m. Gary Phillips signs
"Only the Wicked" Saturday, November 4 All Day
Grand Opening Party 40-50 writers will be there signing books
SOURCE: Mystery Bookstore