Editorial: A fond farewell to Brand Bookshop

The collective hearts of local readers and fans of independent bookstores sank two months ago when it was announced that Brand Bookshop was nearing its last days. Patrons of the Glendale store had noticed the absence of its owner Jerome Joseph, who founded the shop with his business partner 29 years ago. A fall at work had kept Joseph away, and according to son Noriaki Nakano, his father never quite recovered from the injury.

A SoCal icon known for his customer service, intelligence and good taste in classical music, Joseph never shirked on a good trade, often made it more than worth a customer’s while to return, and even during tough economic times greeted everyone with a smile. His wit alone was enough reason to stop by and browse, and if you couldn’t find the book you wanted, his knowledgeable staff — including the always cheerful Nakano — could find it in their off-site collection or would even make a call to the proprietors across the street.

After Borders liquidated in 2011, Barnes & Noble became the last man standing against brick-and-mortar independent sellers. But this story is about more than changing times brought on by Amazon’s dominance or the advent of e-readers or the alarming way reading itself seems to have gone out of fashion. It isn’t about commerce or paper versus screens. It’s more akin to coming to the last page of the final chapter of a wonderful novel and realizing the characters were real.

Though he may not have always remembered your name, if you happened to wander in on a given day and find Jerome Joseph behind the counter, he knew you. As the tale of his three-decade legacy comes to a close, we can only savor the last moments and offer our best to the owner, his son and all our fellow customers who will feel the absence of this great shop and the shared story it told.