((PKG)) BOOKSTORE
((TRT: 03:42))
((Topic Banner: The Book Jewel))
((Reporter/Camera/Producer/Editor: Elizabeth Lee))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Los Angeles, California))
((Main character: 1 male; 1 female))
((NATS))
((Karen Dia, Owner, The Book Jewel))
A bookstore is the same word as community.
((NATS))
Fine. How are you doing today?
((Karen Dial, Owner, The Book Jewel))
If you have a thriving community, you will have a thriving bookstore.
((NATS))
((Karen Dial, Owner, The Book Jewel))
I wanted to have an inclusivity here at the bookstore where everyone feels welcome. It's my dream came true. The book Jewel is named after my mom. Her name is Jewel, and she was a lover of books and encouraged me to read.
((NATS: Karen Dial))
Hi. I’m Karen.
((Karen Dial, Owner, The Book Jewel))
Every time I walk through the door, it's almost like I can't believe that this is really here, that we really did it.
Our grand opening was in the middle of a pandemic, August 29th, last year, 2020. Sean, our bookstore manager, and I were vacillatin g. What do we do? We're almost ready, you know. All the construction is finished. The shelves are in. And should we just go for it? And we said, “Yes!”
((Sean Moor, Manager, The Book Jewel))
And we wore the masks, and we did curbside service. We did whatever we needed to do, to make people feel comfortable about coming. And people came, masked up fully with gloves and hand sanitizer, but we were just overjoyed to see people come into a physical space and, for a moment, kind of lose themselves in that great American activity of shopping.
((NATS))
((Sean Moor, Manager, The Book Jewel))
By far, the most popular books that we're selling right now since the pandemic, since we opened, are children's books, because all these children, for better part of a year, have not been able to go to school with their friends.
((NATS))
((Karen Dial, Owner, The Book Jewel))
So, we have this darling kitty that found me, ended up in my garage and I was trying to find the cat a home and Sean and I were here at the store, and I told him the story. He goes, “Well, we should have a mascot cat here.” He came up with the name Pages. So now, we have this draw of people that come to the store just to see the cat.
((NATS))
((Karen Dial, Owner, The Book Jewel))
So, I'm in the business of buying buildings and selling buildings every so often. And so, for me, it was necessary to be the owner.
((NATS))
((Karen Dial, Owner, The Book Jewel))
We needed to own the building in order to make this happen.
We realized that that it’s going to be a big challenge. People were not even stepping out of their homes last August very much, but those who did, they walked in the store and they said, “Oh, my gosh. This is so amazing. We can do something different than watching TV or then the Internet or we can actually read a book that will vicariously take us to Hawaii or Costa Rica or give us something else to do with our lives besides sitting at home.”
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Sean Moor, Manager, The Book Jewel))
There was a little fear in the community about, will I have a job next, you know, in the fall or will the money run out? All kinds of things like that, that people bring to the store. And so, what the store is, was a place for, is a little bit of a respite, where you can feel confident that we're all going to get through this together.
((Karen Dial, Owner, The Book Jewel))
People definitely have been isolated, and they want to come into a place and feel like they belong. It's really necessary that we offer that.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Sean Moor, Manager, The Book Jewel))
Bye, bye.
