Los Angeles’ Samuel French Bookstore Closes Early Following Vandalism

The store, set to permanently shutter March 31, is now closed pending a police investigation.

Los Angeles' Samuel French bookstore, which announced its end of March closure last month, is now closed until further notice. Per an advisory on the Samuel French website, the store was broken into on the night of March 4 and vandalized. The note also details that earlier that day, some men had intimidated a staff member.

"The police require us to close the store pending their investigation and with our staff's safety in mind, we are unable to open it," the message states. Read it here.

After 70 years of business, Samuel French announced in February that it was shutting its Sunset Boulevard bookstore March 31. The global publisher and licensor of plays and musicals has been forced to close down the shop due to declining sales in the face of growing e-commerce (over 80 percent of Samuel French’s retail sales are now made online).

Read: THE DRAMA BOOK SHOP CLOSES 40TH STREET LOCATION

Samuel French opened its first California bookstore in downtown L.A. in 1929 and moved into the Sunset Boulevard building in 1947. The smaller Studio City bookshop located on Ventura Boulevard operated from 1986 until its closing in 2012.

To visit Samuel French’s retail store online, visit Samuelfrench.com. To peruse, rent, or purchase digital scripts, download their reading app at abbottreader.com.