Book Soup Opening South Coast Store
By DEBORAH BELGUM
Bibliophile Glenn Goldman has chosen Costa Mesa for the first expansion of his high-profile Book Soup store on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
After 27 years of operating just one bookstore, Goldman is going south to Orange County where he will be taking over the former Rizzoli’s Bookstore space at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
Goldman, who admits he doesn’t know Orange County as well as Los Angeles County, was approached by the shopping center’s executives about taking over the 4,400-square-foot space.
The advantage of moving to that location is that many of the bookshelves and fixtures are still in place.
The new Book Soup, however, will differ slightly from Goldman’s popular original outlet on the Sunset Strip. There will be a more conservative mix of titles that concentrate on topics popular with suburbanites, such as cooking, interior design, architecture and photography.
“Film and music will be de-emphasized,” Goldman noted. “I’ll be going more with books about nesting.”
The new Book Soup opens the first week of August.
Goldman’s store on the Sunset Strip has a popular following among A-list movie stars and directors. It is also known for its book-signing events featuring authors and celebrities.
Goldman, who started his business while he was a graduate student at the University of California Los Angeles, is hoping the Orange County bookstore becomes as popular as his Los Angeles endeavor.
Belgum is a staff reporter at the Los Angeles Business Journal.
