Dutton’s — the hottest name in Los Angeles bookstores — days away from closing down permanently on San Vicente Boulevard, may yet be resuscitated and re-open in Culver City.
That is a heavy “may,” Culver City says.
“We are hopeful,” Todd Tipton, Redevelopment Administrator for the Community Development Dept., told the newspaper this afternoon.
“The ball is in (owner Doug Dutton’s) court now.”
There is no question about the tallest hurdle:
Rental rates.
Mr. Dutton was unavailable for comment.
Skeletal History
Since the early 1980s, the brand name “Dutton’s” has virtually become iconic around Los Angeles.
For nearly three decades, Doug Dutton and his brother Dave owned high quality bookstores, with highly sought after new and used inventory, in the San Fernando Valley and on the Westside.
However, the simultaneous dual rise of the internet and rental rates slammed the strongly literate brothers harder than any business rival could have imagined.
Another Ending
Dave Dutton shut down his salon-like Laurel Canyon Boulevard store in North Hollywood, and he left the Valley for the final time a year ago last August after a 28-year run.
At the end, as always with the Duttons, heartbroken patrons, crushed store employees and the disappointed owner himself swam in a sea of tears.
Mr. Dutton announced he would return to business in semi-retirement in the state of Washington.
As for Culver City, locals historically have regarded Downtown as a cultural desert.
Excitement Fades
Hope has flared, occasionally.
When various builders have planned ambitious projects Downtown during the past decade, some have vaguely alluded to the possibility of including a bookstore in their plans.
But none ever came close to materializing.
To this day, not a single bookstore is within view of Culver City’s largely rebuilt Downtown.
The closest bookshop is another cultural and literary oasis, Sam Johnson, 12310 Venice Blvd., near Grandview Boulevard.
Meanwhile, negotiations between Doug Dutton, the last active L.A. area bookstore operator in the bookstore-owning family, and City Hall have been underway since early last year.
Talks have not been continuous, but with Mr. Dutton almost out of business by now, City Hall sounds encouraged.
The parties are not close — yet — to doing a deal.
Talks with Culver City heated up again last month, shortly before Mr. Dutton made his Brentwood-closing announcement and saddened a city, on Feb. 25.
If nothing else, the 60-year-old Mr. Dutton knows the layout of Culver City.
Last year about this time,
Mr. Dutton and City Hall numerous times strolled — enthusiastically but fruitlessly — through likely neighborhoods, shopping for landing space.
“Nothing we had would work for him then,” Mayor Alan Corlin told the newspaper.
For awhile, discussion centered on a vacant property immediately east of the Kirk Douglas Theatre on Washington Boulevard, land that would have been described as a fixer-upper if it were residential.
“It was not (Mr. Dutton’s) fault it didn’t work out,” said Mayor Corlin. “He was desperate.
“We just could not make it work, though. He was motivated. And we were motivated.
“We showed him all kinds of properties.
“It really is a shame. I tried everything I could think of.”
The Spark
This story was prompted by an email from reader Jane Niles:
“From Monday’s L.A. Times, ‘When Dutton’s Closes, a Vibrant Chapter in L.A.’s Story Will End,’ by Al Martinez (http://www.latimes.com/features/books/)
“[Dutton’s] is still thinking that maybe there’s a place somewhere for a new Dutton’s to emerge, perhaps in the very complex that will replace the present two-story structure now housing the bookstore and some upstairs offices.
“If not, maybe in Culver City.”
“There are so many Culver City folks (at least, in my experience) who have wished for a bookstore Downtown.
“Dutton’s would be a jewel for downtown Culver City.
“It would be great if the City Council or the Redevelopment folks could find a way to help this to this happen!”
