I got the official word from the city earlier today: it’s true–and according to Craig Beck, director of the City of Long Beach’s Department of Development Services, Acres of Books will indeed close forever.

It will not move elsewhere, and it will not be factored back into the city’s development of the so-called Broadway Block (bounded by Long Beach Boulevard, Elm Avenue, Third Street and Broadway) when that eventually opens.

Acres of Books and its lawyers signed on the dotted line late last week, to sell their property at 240 Long Beach Blvd. to the city’s Redevelopment Agency for just more than $2.8 million.

Beck says the city’s Redevelopment Agency Board has to approve the purchase–but it’s expected to do just that, at its April 21 board meeting.

Then the property will go into escrow–a process Beck said could take several weeks or longer.

According to terms of the sale, Beck said this morning that Acres of Books will be allowed to remain in its historic 1924 Streamline Moderne building for one year from the date escrow closes.

Acres of Books will receive free rent and free parking for one year. Then–it’ll be gone.

“They’ve basically made the decision to not stay in business,” Beck said. “Instead of going through relocation they decided on an exclusive negotiated price.”

The city issued a press release about the sale this afternoon, quoting store owner Phil Smith, grandson of founder Bertrand Smith.

“We are pleased with the terms of the sale and were able to work with the Agency to come to an agreement that benefited both parties,” said Smith, of Newport Beach, leaving no doubt that he and wife Jackie Smith will close the store. “Acres of Books will remain in business at our downtown Long Beach location for another year.”

A whole year. Hot dog. Now, the important question: argle-bargle or foofaraw?

The Acres of Books sale is really more of an argle-bargle, which Dictionary.com defines as “a verbal dispute; a wrangling argument.” (It’s a civilized argument with lawyers, over price, which has now been settled.)

A foofaraw is defined as “a great fuss or disturbance about something very insignificant.” This is definitely not a foofaraw.

Acres of Books is downtown Long Beach’s last historic public destination. And by next summer, it will be gone. Hooray for us.

Tags: acres of books, American Hotel, California, Craig Beck, Long Beach, Long Beach historic landmark, Redevelopment Agency, Southern California, The District Weekly, Theo Douglas

COMMENTS

1

Thank God. I mean, downtown cannot have enough stucco and faux brick boxes with chain retail on the first floor (or the obligatory “leased-but-never-open” day spas). The LB RDA is solely concerned with napalming all LB history and bending over for developers that it can’t possibly consider the fact that character builds interesting and viable neighborhoods.

Yes, it’s a dusty, earthquake trap. A wonderful dusty, earthquake trap. But 90% of what’s gone in downtown has not shown any long-term economic viability–something Acres of Books apparently knows a bit about.

Look at the empty store fronts and businesses above Broadway on Pine St. If you really want an “Arts” district, why destroy an anchor for that area? Councilperson Lowenthal took a nice contribution from developer October Five, the PT developer, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of these deposits in her account.

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Posted By Andy on April 7th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
2

damn!

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Posted By howardx on April 7th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
3

Fuck the Long Beach City Council. May their children grow up to be hydrocephalic mouth-breathing illiterates who watch reality TV when they’re not beating up the wife and kids.

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Posted By Andrew Williams on April 7th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
4

Yeah, blame the city and RDA….. but please don’t blame the greedy owners of Acres of Books, no not them. I mean $2.8 million is nothing to gawk at… i mean they were in it for the organic urban history that they brought to the city.

LOL, you silly fools are so anti government its funny. This is just another example of capitalism at its best. The owners made a nice profit yet you all blame the city for being the “mean” bully! Ha! Why don’t you look at the owners and ask them why they sold, they just held out for the best offer and didn’t care about history or anything. This place was just a bad fire ready to happen. I’m glad its gone, I hope that something nice is built there, and I will hold my opinions on the architecture until its built… those who fault it now are just full of hot air.

I would rather have the city keep the empty store fronts on Broadway and Pine instead of just pimping them out to the next 9.99 shoe store. Get a clue!

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Posted By sassy sue on April 8th, 2008 at 11:58 am
5

To Sassy Sue: You don’t know what kinds of pressure were brought to bare on the owners, besides economic. Why don’t you wait until the whole story is known before passing judgment? And fuck all the revenue that Acres of Books brought in to the city. And while I’m at it, fuck Southern California and the disease, syphilis-carrying dogfood-factory bound horse it rode in on.

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Posted By Andrew Williams on April 8th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
6

Oh no, you didn’t. Um, you’re the clueless one, SS. Or is that Sassy Suja?

And I could add illogical, short-sighted, and utterly ignorant of urban planning, history, and of the area itself. Frankly, if I owned Acres of Books and the city came to me with a 2.8 mil payout, I’d take it in a heartbeat. The point is why should the city buyout Acres of Books? If the folks that own it want to get out of business, let them shut it down, sell it, or lock the doors and walk away. But we don’t need to remove it with tax money to allegedly “redevelop” the area.

And if you’re too much of a “why can’t every place be as pristine as South Coast Plaza” OC ‘tard, please stay there.

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Posted By Andy on April 8th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
7

I’ve been anticipating this news since I moved to Long Beach 6 years ago and first discovered Acres, surprised then how such an enormous, odd, and unbusy place had managed to stay in business.

Recently, I’ve been following the write-ups and rumors about Acres’ impending closure, always with a wistful sigh, an annoyed “fuck that,” and an impromptu visit determined to make a purchase. More often than not, I’d walk out with something other than what I’d come looking for. I’d settle for Saroyan when I couldn’t find Fante, select an alternative Nabokov title, have to think of plan B when I couldn’t find anything by Barthelme. No big deal when I got to wander the towering stacks in solitude, searching for something I’d know when I found it.

To risk a corny but apt analogy, visiting Acres is like visiting the sanctuary of a Medieval cathedral. It’s cavernous, cool and quiet inside; the scent of dust and age hangs in the air. And although I’m no Catholic and I’ve got but a passing interest in the greater religious and political significance of the church, I’m deeply fascinated by certain details in the building’s architecture and stained glass, a few of the paintings on the walls, a worn pew, the impressive pipe organ, how the nice the damn building looks as it sits in the midst of a small town.

And because the place seems important to me, to the wider community, to the historic integrity of a town, I deposit whatever change happens to be in my pocket in the small box near the entrance. A paltry donation in lieu of a tithe. It is for these very same reasons I go into Acre’s. But here, I get a souvenir for my donation. I leave with novels, books of poetry, stories. Things I read, or plan to, or give away, or set on my shelf because everyone’s gotta collect something and I collect books.

To me, most of the things I cherish about the enigmatic Acres symbolize slow decay, senescence, chaos, limbo, and mystery. Not the sort of stuff people typically desire in businesses, bookstores or otherwise.

I imagine that, financially speaking, to save the place as is (which is to say, as the operating 2nd hand bookstore many of us know and love) would’ve been extremely difficult, perhaps ultimately impossible without a significant increase in sales income.

The right person could’ve turned things around there. Downsized the bloated collection, used some of the extra space to start up a music venue, coffee house, anything. If you’ve been to Portland and visited the McMinnimans places, you know what I’m talking about. Sure it’s a different neighborhood/environment in Long Beach, but damn it if that wouldn’t have been a great idea. A little savvy, creativity and vision could’ve done the trick, something that the management/owners clearly lacked.

I guess I’m bummed because now the chance for this has passed.

As it stands: I hope they make the place a sand trap.
And never get their balls out.

So it goes…

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Posted By Josh on April 8th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
8

Actually, the owners (who have apparently decided to reopen elsewhere) have been slowly selling down because the writing was on the dusty wall. The LB RDA wanted them outta there. This is not about the owners. It’s about developers, land, backroom deals with your tax money, and a loss of a chance for a downtown that wasn’t what 3rd street promenade has become.

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Posted By Andy on April 8th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
9

Fuck if Andy isn’t always right on. And Josh, your point about employing a little vision and creativity to rethink and transform the business is the point that i’ve been making to anyone that will listen. Do i blame AOB for taking the money, no. Do i blame the city for dangling the carrot and robbing us of one of the few remaining examples of what makes long beach…long beach, yes.

The only thing i can hope for now is that you (the city/RDA) store the inventory and work them into the new design of the “art block” that you’re planning to create. If you come anywhere close to what Portland has with Powell’s Books…you could be a hero. But then again, are the Powell’s or the AOBs of the world manufactured, i don’t think so.

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Posted By Andreas on April 8th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
10

Is the LB RDA elected officials, if so… blame yourselves! If not, then let it go! Besides, how often do you so called “Acres of Books fans” have visited and purchased something at this place? How many of you have also bought something from Borders or Amazon, if you answer honestly you know who has egg on their face. And what’s up with all the curse words? Hmmmm, me thinks that when one has nothing to say, a profanity insert does the job to put that little exclamation point on their poignant thought. Bravo, bravo, bravo! All you tree hugging granolas need to get a clue!

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Posted By sassy sue on April 9th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
11

SS…please don’t breed…your kind of stupid apparently votes, but obviously doesn’t read or use search engines.

From the city website: In the City of Long Beach, redevelopment activities are overseen by a board of appointees established by City Council. This Redevelopment Agency Board is separate from the City Council and oversees all redevelopment activities in the City.

So, no, “I won’t let it go”.

And I do go to Acres to purchase books or browse. And I’ve bought new books from Amazon. What’s your point? How does that relate to the article? Please bow out of this conversation until your rhetoric is more than quoting bumper stickers on the crazy neighbor’s truck.

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Posted By Andy on April 9th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
12

Andy, don’t get your pantys in a bunch. I asked the question re RDA, I didn’t state a fact. Thanks for your research, its obvious that you and google go way back! Regardless, I win and you loose, Acres is gone and I’m happy! So I’m glad you won’t let it go…. looks like you are just setting yourself up for a lifetime of misery… cute.

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Posted By sassy sue on April 10th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
13

What’s a “pantys”? And how does one “loose”?

I guess I can see why you wouldn’t appreciate the loss of a bookstore and historical landmark, when illiteracy is apparently a badge of honor.

You win! The RDA spends 2.8 million taxpayer dollars to buyout and destroy an existing, viable business…oh, yes, you win!

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Posted By Andy on April 10th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
14

So your come back is to attack my spelling…. nice. Well sorry for the spelling errors, English is not my first language. Just because I don’t write English correctly all the time doesn’t mean that I’m illiterate. I speak 4 languages, how many do you speak…. enough said!

And thanks for recognizing that I win and you lose, no need to reiterate… its redundant.

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Posted By sassy sue on April 11th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
15

No, my “come back” was to point out your illogical arguments.

But if you don’t speak English well enough to understand these points (or understand cultural sensitivities), maybe you should ask someone to explain them to you before you post.

Four languages, wow, that sure validates your argument (that’s “sarcasm”–look it up). But you clearly don’t know anything about urban planning, local fiscal responsibility, historic preservation, or economic viability.

Your arguments consist of “it’s yucky.”

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Posted By Andy on April 11th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
16

The loss of AOB is bad enough. But if it’s going to be replaced with the same bone-headed suburbanization that destroyed the rest of downtown and the Pike, it’s a double loss of Long Beach.

The redevelopment of downtown Long Beach has been a nearly complete tragedy.

The RDA, unlike city council, is not accountable to the voters. I don’t see why that means we should “get over” their poor guidance for our public shared spaces.

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Posted By Raphael on April 12th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
17

Andy, I’m sick of preservationists, sometimes they don’t know what is good for them, and it looks like you don’t know what’s good for you. Where did you get your degree in urban planning, local fiscal responsibility, historic preservation, and economic viability??? My opinion counts just as much as yours whether you like it or not (that isn’t sarcasm, its a fact… look it up).

Cheers!

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Posted By sassy sue on April 14th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
18

This comment was deleted by the editors for reasons of taste.

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Posted By jan.hjorth on April 14th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
19

Dearest Sassy,

That “[your] opinion counts just as much as [Andy's] whether [he] like[s] it or not” is just, like, your opinion–regardless of how righteous (read: petulant) you feel at the moment you post.

As for your polyglotism, I would applaud you if I thought you’d be able to discern my meager praise through the self-congratulatory peal of your own ego.

Seriously though, I’ll be honest: You’ve piqued my interest. Four languages?! I’m impressed. So you speak English and Bullshit (which I’m guessing is your native tongue since I can’t detect any accent). What are the other two?

By the way, have you ever heard the expression “neener, neener, neener?” It’s a well-known taunt in American grade schooler argot. It would make a formidable addition to your arsenal of snappy comebacks.

But, you know, that’s just, like, my opinion.

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Posted By Josh on April 14th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
20

Well, you busted me, SS. I don’t have a degree in “urban planning, local fiscal responsibility, historic preservation, and economic viability.” I’ll just let you tell me “what is good for” preservationists because your superior rhetorical discourse (as Josh has recognized) has convinced me that I can trust your judgment. SInce Long Beach has shown such a great track record in residential zoning, restraint in code variances, and preservation of its history, there’s no real reason to worry that the new downtown won’t become “Irvine-by-the-Sea.”

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Posted By Andy on April 15th, 2008 at 7:48 am
21

Ouch, Josh…. you really got me there. I will always fear a ruffled feathered intellect with access to a thesaurus. (and I use the work intellect loosely, what a potty mouth you have there).

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Posted By sassy sue on April 16th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
22

Yeah, Josh, you should go to a French blog and post an incomprehensible comment about tearing down that old, worn-out Arc de Triomphe (in broken, misspelled French) and then defend it by stating you’re obviously smart because you speak another language.

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Posted By Andy on April 16th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
23

Slaggy Sue,
You remind me of a mastectomy. You are one sad, lonely boob.

Andy,
Word.

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Posted By Josh on April 16th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
24

Sassy Sue. Just out of curiosity and yes this is a serious question, why are you so happy to see AOB go? Furthermore, how do you see that improving the area versus hurting it?

Most smart cities go out of their way to save businesses and buildings that are unique to the area, create a draw and help to define a city. I love new shit too, when done right. But the juxtaposition of new and old should be embraced.

As a city trying to compete against not just other national cities but international cities, we should be doing what we can to save what is unique about Long Beach, which helps to create a sense of place and create a draw for people that don’t just want watered down anywhere USA type scenarios.

So as i said i’m confused by how this makes you happy and how you think this could actually be a good thing. I guess the obvious answer would be that i paves the way for something new. But there are other areas to develop new that don’t have to do with steamrolling something unique to the flavor of long beach.

would love to hear your thoughts expressed on that.

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Posted By Andreas on April 16th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
25

To me, there is nothing architecturally unique about the facade of the building, the remaining portion is just old brick. My question is why is the facade worth saving? I honestly don’t see this small art deco facade as iconic to Long Beach. I don’t believe that it is worthy enough to prevent the city’s ability to “pave the way for something new”. Believe me, I don’t want nor care for the OC in any way, but lets be serious, is it the business that needs to be saved, if so… not a big deal, the owners get lots of $$$ and can relocate. If it is the facade that has everyone in a tizzy, I say… get over it. It isn’t that pretty or unique to prevent an Art Exchange from realizing its full potential. The rest of you who try and attack me with your silly posts, I just laugh and laugh to see that I have the ability to upset you all, too funny.

Yours truly,
Slaggy Sue (lol, too funny)

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Posted By sassy sue on April 17th, 2008 at 11:18 am
26

She says, “Get over it.” Again, with the well-thought, solid, rhetorical discourse.

I hope you weren’t expecting an explanation based on something other than wanting to “pave the way for something new.” And despite SS’s massive intellect, she’s, in fact, wrong, as the structure is architecturally significant (it is a designated historic structure) and, though it is small, it is precisely because of short-sightedness (and the 1933 earthquake) that there are so few examples of art deco facades in Long Beach.

But it is the combination of the building, the history, and the feel of the place that makes it special. You can have your Arts Exchange, but why the need to desperately erase the past? Again, it’s the unprincipled waste of tax dollars and abuse of eminent domain that is the crime here, and the hypocrisy of elected officials who vowed to protect it (Suja, that’d be you).

Yes, Sassy, you won.

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Posted By Andy on April 17th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
27

Andy, I wasn’t talking to you, but thanks for your input. So what that the LB cultural department deisgnated it a historic structure in 1990, and what’s your point? A group of old farts got together and voted on something? There are plenty examples of Art Deco in LB that are sufficient, this one is not significant and if it is gone, it won’t be missed. You really need to get over it, your blood pressure must be boiling by now… just lie down and breath, this will all be over soon. And you are right on one thing, I won!

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Posted By sassy sue on April 17th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
28

Ahhh, youth. Frequently wrong, but never in doubt…

“In all the wild orgy of wastefulness and luxury with which the nineteenth century reaches its close, the gilded youth has been surely the worst symptom. With his airs of young milord, his fast horses, his gold and silver cigarette cases, his clothes from a New York tailor, his recklessness of money showered upon him by indulgent mothers or doting grandfathers, he respects nothing and nobody.”

Booth Tarkington, The Magnificent Ambersons

A book you won’t have to worry about finding at the Arts Exchange.

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Posted By Andy on April 17th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
29

Sassy. Thanks for the reply. I see your point and have looked at it from that perspective but i disagree that it’s all about the building. AOB is soo much more then just a building. Yes, it can be argued that the building is not all that special, but I think you have to take into consideration the overall soul of the business, which is represented by its history, its loyal customer base, it’s walls, it’s stories, books, smell, etc, etc.

Why move the business, why not look at ways to make it work for its location? Step in, get creative and reinvent it to act as a backbone for the “arts exchange” being planned. To pave the way for this new creative development by taking away this creative cornerstone just makes no sense at all.

The overall business represents the true soul of long beach, it’s part of what makes this place authentic.

So Sassy, have you looked at it from this overall perspective or are you only looking at it as a building that you think just ain’t that great?

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Posted By Andreas on April 21st, 2008 at 10:15 pm

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