The Brass Lamp, a downtown Long Beach establishment serving patrons a quiet place to read and socialize while partaking in a cup of coffee or a more potent beverage, will soon depart from The Promenade in downtown Long Beach.

Owner Samantha Argosino, who opened The Brass Lamp in October 2015 after accomplishing the lengthy – and expensive – task of converting former office space into what she called a “book bar,” is looking for a new opportunity to revive the concept somewhere else in downtown Long Beach.

In the meantime, however, she and her 14 employees have set plans in place for a “Grand Closing” at the end of the month.

“I think a lot of people think that I’m sad, or would expect me to be sad. I’ve already processed those emotions,” she said during an interview Friday inside The Brass Lamp.

That said, Argosino said she looks back at The Brass Lamp as having had an opportunity to enrich the lives of her employees and patrons.

“For that, I feel very accomplished and very fulfilled,” she said.

Lighting the Lamp

Argosino worked in as an auditor prior to opening The Brass Lamp, which she envisioned as the kind of haven she wanted to have when she was away on business.

“I needed a place where I could work and be alone, but be around people at the same time,” she said before going on to describe her objective as creating “the perfect medium between a coffee shop and a bar.”

Argosino quit her job in 2013 and signed a lease for The Brass Lamp’s future site, at 245 The Promenade, the following year. Before its remodeling, the address was that of a former office building.

“The building was not built as a restaurant, and because all of the codes and all that, it was a long construction process. It was a 10-month construction process,” Argosino said.

Creating The Brass Lamp also required expenditures of about $400,000.

The product of all that time and money, as well as labor, was a place where patrons could order some food (the most popular dish has been the smoked gouda grilled cheese sandwich) along with a coffee, wine or beer while spending some quiet time with a book. Alternatively, The Brass Lamp was also a place for customers to take in a live music performance or hold a work meeting.

“I get a lot of joy when I see strangers just meeting, getting to know each other, and walking out of this place as friends,” Argosino said.

To Argosino, The Brass Lamp was a bar that could be welcoming to patrons with introverted or intellectual personalities. For a patron to walk into a bar and crack open a book or laptop isn’t really something people can do, she said.

“Everyone comes here and they feel welcome, no matter who year are,” manager Ryan Cann said.

The book bar concept

The Brass Lamp has its own in-house book collection.. A curious reader would be able to find volumes of literature, history or art commentaries lining shelves along the establishment’s back walls. Se (accent over the e) Reed, who owned a bookstore, called Open, that previously did business in downtown Long Beach and on Retro Row provided the bar with its library.

To Reed, the collection at the books at The Brass Lamp existed not only as another iteration of Open, but also as an art installation.

“It creates a sense of place, or atmosphere, and people could not have necessarily take the books home, but they could read them when they came there,” Reed said.

From Reed’s perspective, Long Beach needs a place like The Brass Lamp.

Argosino acknowledged she needs to find a smaller, more affordable location for her concept, she wants to keep a book bar alive in the city, and although she would have to “start from scratch” to open a new location, she also has customers who don’t want The Brass Lamp to go away.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I’m getting so much overwhelming feedback,” she said.

The Brass Lamp’s “grand closing” event, plans for which include auctions for the bar’s furniture and dates with male employees, is set to begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 28.