Community Responds to Eso Won in Time of Need

Last weekend, sales at Eso Won Books in Los Angeles were up 500 percent compared to a typical weekend, according to store co-owner James Fugate. What turned Columbus Day into a veritable Christmas rush was the message spread throughout the local African-American community that Eso Won, which specializes in African-American titles and authors, was in imminent danger of closing.

A year ago, the 20-year-old store, co-founded and co-owned by Fugate and Thomas Hamilton, moved to its current location in the Leimert Park neighborhood to take advantage of lower rent and a more active and vibrant African- American arts community. The store is very well known, and Fugate told BTW that events featuring former President Bill Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama, Christopher Darden, and Patti Labelle have drawn huge crowds. Author Walter Mosley will be appearing at the store this week. "But many people come to see these people," Fugate said, "and don't necessarily buy the books."

Fugate attributes Eso Won's decline in sales partly to competition from national chains and e-commerce, but he also noted a drop in the number of purchase orders from institutions such as the L.A. Unified School District and public libraries. He addressed the problem in an e-mail sent last Friday to local educators and hundreds of community members.

It read, in part, "We know that...you can purchase books from a wide variety of sources.... It was your purchases that helped us grow, and we want to dramatically encourage you to return."

The e-mail called attention to the dire financial situation of Eso Won, indicating that the store might have to close before the end of 2007.

Fugate told BTW that the response to the e-mail has been surprising and heartening. The pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, with 19,000 members, urged congregants at all weekend services to support the store. Said Pastor John J. Hunter, quoted in the L.A. Times, "It is essential that we support businesses that educate, enlighten, and help perpetuate our culture."

News stories about Eson Won's plight also appeared on TV and in print media. L.A. Times columnist Sandy Banks wrote an article titled "Black-owned Eso Won Books is one of a threatened species," in which she asked why the closure of a bookstore, as opposed to a hardware store or pharmacy, sparks hand-wringing.

"Because bookstores sell more than books; they offer a sense of community," Banks then answered. "At their best, this vanishing breed -- think Midnight Special in Santa Monica, Dutton's in North Hollywood, Sisterhood in Westwood -- functioned not just as shopping venues, but libraries, sanctuaries, public plazas."

For Eso Won, at the moment, "the push is really helping," Fugate said. "If we can catch up with all the vendors... it would help me to project how to order and that would help us to stay in business. We currently don't have the stock, but if the good days continue I think we will catch up." --Nomi Schwartz