Westside bookstore Diesel finds new owner

As brick-and-mortar bookstores continue to struggle against Amazon and other online distributors, Southland readers got a chapter of good news Monday -- the venerable Westside shop "Diesel, A Bookstore," has been sold and will be staying put.

"We are pleased to announce that we have found the right buyers for the store, and they've found us!" outgoing owners Alison Reid and John Evans said in an announcement to customers.

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"Richard & Heather Turner will be taking over ownership of the store on August 1," the note added. "We will be on hand for a few more months to smooth the transition. We are so excited to work to help them keep the store as good as you've come to expect and to take it forward into the future."

All 10 of Diesel's employees will keep their jobs, Evans told City News Service.

Evans and Reid have operated Diesel at its current location for 16 years. The mailing address is 225 26th St. in Santa Monica, but it's actually in L.A., right on the border, Evans said.

He and Reid started in 1989 in the Bay Area, eventually operating five Diesel stores in Northern and Southern California.

The two remaining Diesels are in L.A. and San Diego. Evans said he and Reid will continue to operate the San Diego location but will change its name, with the new Diesel owners taking possession of the franchise brand.

Eventually, Evans said, he and Reid will likely sell the San Diego locations as well, perhaps in the next year or two.

"All the Diesel website and all the Diesel history is going to this new couple that's going to own it," Evans said. "And all the employees are staying and all that stuff, so that's great.

"For us to close ... it would be horrible for everybody."

Evans thinks he's found the perfect heirs in the Turners. Though they're rookie booksellers, they possess the same kind of passion as Diesel's outgoing owners, he said.

"I interviewed a bunch of people and he rose right to the top, so that's great," Evans said of Richard Turner.

"We've been training them for the last six weeks, and another three months we're going to be training them," Evans said. "We just want to know that (they know) all the ins and outs."

Evans, 66, said he'll miss the customers who flocked to the store -- often for the many author events held there -- but that "it was just time for us -- both of us have been doing it since the late '70s, early '80s."

"I've done it for so long, it's not that I'm sick of it, it's just that I'd like to do other things," Evans told CNS. "Travel, for one; reading, for another; probably some writing, music stuff that I've let fall by the wayside -- all that. ... I really don't know who I'll be when I'm not the Diesel bookseller guy."

The sale announced Monday follows the January announcement by the owners of Vroman's in Pasadena and Book Soup in West Hollywood that those stores are up for sale.

They are among the oldest, largest and best-loved independent bookstores in Southern California.

"As I approach my 80th birthday, it's time to begin the process of retiring and finding new ownership outside of the Sheldon family," Joel Sheldon, who's run Vroman's for nearly 50 years, said in a statement posted on social media in January.

Vroman's, founded in 1894, also operates a smaller store in the Hastings Ranch neighborhood. The downtown Pasadena bookstore purchased Book Soup in 2009 after its owner died. All three stores, employing a total of more than 150 workers, are on the block.

"Vroman's deserves new ownership with the vision, energy, and commitment necessary to take it successfully into the future," Sheldon said. "We will take the time needed to find the right new ownership -- someone who shares our core values and who is committed to preserving Vroman's as a community treasure."

Both stores are also known for their author appearances, book-signings and other events.

As for Diesel, "We want to express our appreciation for your support, in so many ways, throughout these 16 years," the outgoing owners said in their missive to customers.

"We are grateful for your sticking with us through thick and thin, through the pandemic especially, for being able to be a part of this wonderful community of passionate readers. It has been a pleasure to talk books, and all else, with you and to share the book world."

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