Campus Times Online

Used books open a magic door

Posted November 11, 2005

Kelly Rivas

The Magic Door is open. The used bookstore, owned by Dwain and JoAnn Kaiser, opened on June 25 in the Art Colony on Second Street in downtown Pomona. The bookstore offers thousands of used books in categories including art, philosophy, literature, cooking, travel, religion, children stories and culture. Classic and obscure titles can be found throughout the store. Tim Smith stopped in the Magic Door for the first time to look at the large collection of used books.

As you peer through the doorway, a long corridor of books appears before you and the crisp smell of the light brown wooden shelves along the walls invites you to stroll down the dark brown floor, choose a book and settle into a rocking chair.

Nestled in the Arts Colony of downtown Pomona sits the little bookstore Magic Door IV.

Even though it is about two meters wide, it attracts an array of book lovers with over 10,000 books neatly stacked on the shelves.

Owners Dwain and JoAnn Kaiser opened the book store this summer and their business has been thriving, but they still admit that business could always be better.

The prominent location in downtown Pomona serves as a magnet, luring customers from all parts of Los Angeles.

“We like the concerts, art galleries and what’s going on around us,” Dwain Kaiser said.

The bookstore features topics such as women’s studies, biographies, poetry, fiction, books on the modern era and children’s books.

Among its unique collection you can find everything from an autographed version of Ray Bradbury’s first book, retailing for $3,000, to all time classics that sell for as low as $2.

The prices for the books are typically half the cover price or less of new books.

For many families a trip to the local bookstore has become a regular pastime. Parents often come in looking for their favorite childhood books to buy for their children in order to keep the stories that once inspired them alive in their families.

“People like to buy kids’ books for their children that they read themselves,” JoAnn Kaiser said.

The surprisingly good quality of books in the store may explain the good business.

“You’re never going to find coffee stains or underlined pages,” said John Welsh, a longtime friend of the Kaisers and a loyal customer.

Along with their love for books, the Kaisers have developed a love for their customers who are generally well read, intelligent and come from a variety of places including Los Angeles, Riverside and even the East Coast.

The Kaisers have no idea where their business will lead them in the next 10 years, but do plan to eventually expand and increase their book inventory.

Selling used books is not typically interpreted as a rich business, but the Kaisers’ love for books has kept them in the business for many years.

The bookstore resembles the Kaisers’ vision of the perfect used book collection that their four previously owned bookstores fell short of. This is the only bookstore that the family is currently operating.

“Basically, we love books,” JoAnn Kaiser said.

Yelena Ovcharenko can be reached at yovcharenko@ulv.edu.