You: Foolish Romantic. Me: Seeking Love for Latitude 33

The story of Bookstore is coming to an end.

After running the quaint ol' indie shop for nearly 16 years on Ocean Avenue and Beach Street in Laguna Beach, owner Tom Ahern says he will leave the business to take care of other things, including his wife, who is not well.

 “I’m turning 70 this year.  It’s time to retire,” he says.  “After running the store day in and day out for all these years, I got tired. I’m out of energy.”

 Ahern hopes to find a buyer—an equally enthusiastic reader who loves to share their wealth of knowledge about the literary world—to purchase the store before Labor Day.

 “I’ve had about 19 interested parties so far,” he said, “but I haven’t received any [solid] offers.  No one has written any checks.”

 Ahern attributes part of his fatigue and struggle in finding a buyer to economic distress in the last few years.

 “It’s been a pretty grim time, Ahern said. "Business is down 25 percent from 2008. Realistically, people buying businesses are going to be looking for an income stream from their investment. The bookstore is not going to give a huge return on the investment.  It’ll have to be someone else who has the same foolish romantic idea of owning a bookshop that I had.  I’m not holding my breath waiting for an offer.”

To prepare for the close, Ahern is offering everything in the shop—including new books—at 20 percent off, in hopes of clearing his inventory.  

Discounts will also be offered on speciality items like calendars and postcards.   

Saddened by what he believes will be the demise of the shop, Ahern partly blames the city for its lack of support. 

"We've had so many people who say they love the store, but can't stand the parking and [overly eager] meter maids," he says. "One customer was even ticketed $40 for parking slightly over the line.

 "The situation down here is totally impractical.  We need a village parking structure.  The city will only allow mom and pop shops, but does nothing to help these smaller stores survive. It doesn't make sense." 

Originally named Readers Bookshop, located on Coast Highway where GG's Bistro now stands, Ahern, a former computer analyst and avid reader, purchased the shop in 1996 and moved it to the current location.  

What makes it special, he says, in addition to its downtown location, is the funky, vintage charm and stellar customer service that you won't find in competing stores like Barnes & Noble or Borders. 

 "We have great finds here that you can't get in those stores," Ahern says. "And most importantly, everyone here is a book lover.  We provide the kind of service and recommendations that keep [most] people coming back.

 "We've been good for Laguna.  We've been the center for intellectual life in this town for a long time."

 Jane Hanauer, owner of , which will be the only remaining indie book store in Laguna, echoes Ahern's sentiments about how special Latititde 33 is to the city, and wonders how the closure will affect her business. 

 "I should be glad that our competitor is gone," Hanauer said.  "But I'm really sorry to see them go.  The people there are all so great.  With the growth of [sites] like Amazon and the popularity of electronic books, it's a danger for all of us.  But as independent bookstores, we offer the kind of help and customer service that leads to more indoor shopping and spur-of-the-moment buying that doesn't happen online.

"Hopefully that'll help some of us survive."