Planet Books, a staple of the Long Beach-area book scene that specializes in science fiction, is losing the massive warehouse it has called home for the past five years.
James Rappaport said during a phone conversation on Thursday that, despite the situation, “I don’t want to close.”
Rappaport said he was informed late last year that the owner of the warehouse and the Antique Mall II next door, located on Freeman Avenue in Signal Hill, had decided to list the property for sale and that Planet Books’ days were numbered inside the 4,000-square foot space.
The exterior of Planet Books in Signal Hill on Thursday, January 8, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)According to Rappaport, he was informed that the building would be sold, but that it could take years. “The ground underneath this used to be an oil field, so whoever buys the property is going to have to clean the ground up, and that costs a lot of money,” he said. “Then they came back just recently and said that there’s a buyer for it, and it may go into escrow any day.”
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The bookseller is holding out hope that the new owner will let him move next door and lease the Antique Mall II, rather than try to find a new space that could accommodate the shop’s used books, vintage toys and rare memorabilia that fill the shelves.
Owner James Rappaport, left, helps a customer at Planet Books in Signal Hill on Thursday, January 8, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)“I really don’t know the status, and I have to stay open as long as I can, because books are not huge business,” he said. “We get by, but not by a lot. I’m just trying to stay open as long as I can to make enough money. The new place is going to require a lot of money.”
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Rappaport hopes to stay in the Long Beach area. “I’d like to be in a nice neighborhood, or at least a safe neighborhood, or a neighborhood that’s got decent walk-by.”
Planet Books also sells online via AbeBooks. “Some of the books we have there — they might be a little sleazy, because they’re vintage paperback noir or sleaze — but then we have a lot of signed first editions and a lot of art books.”
The bookshop celebrated its 27th anniversary in November. “We started on Anaheim Street in November of ’98.” The bookshop has held on for nearly three decades and Rappaport said he’s not done selling books. If he’s forced out of the space when a new buyer closes escrow, and is unable to lease the space next door, Rappaport is prepared to close temporarily and put his thousands of boxes of merchandise into a storage unit until he can find Planet Books’ next home.
“Ideally, the next place is my last place,” he said. “I like what I do. I really enjoy coming here every day, and I’m not tired of it yet, and I’ll do it as long as I can.”
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Planet Books isn’t the only bookshop in the area facing uncertainty. Jhoanna Belfer, the owner of Bel Canto Books, said she recently downsized the store’s footprint in KUBO, the Bixby Knolls location. The decision stemmed from her prediction that economic times would be slowing down due to “folks reacting to feeling like either they don’t have enough money to spend on non-essentials, or folks feeling not in the mood to be buying right now.”
Jhoanna Belfer, owner of Bel Canto Books, prepares to move one of her store locations from The Hangout in Long Beach, where she was photographed on Dec. 9, 2023, to a storefront a few doors down on 4th Street. (Photo by Erik Pedersen/SCNG)“Just on Fourth Street alone, there are four of us bookstores,” she said. “Casita, which is about a 10-minute walk from us, they’re one of the ones that are going to be moving stores physically to another space, because it’s just not sustainable for them to stay in their current space. And so I think it’s a huge loss to the community if any of these bookstores close.”
Belfer said Long Beach is unique because it is home to a wide, diverse group of independent bookshops that each specialize in their own niche. “It’s been a lot of fun to see the different personalities in each bookstore.”
Belfar said the struggle shared among the area’s booksellers rings an alarm bell. “It’s always been a tough industry, and it’s definitely something that is a labor of love. We do it, not with any expectation of becoming millionaires or making huge bucks out of it, but because we love books.
“We love literature, and we see the importance now more than ever, of helping to foster individuals who are curious, open-minded, caring, and interested in learning about other people and valuing other people.”
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