JoAnn Kaiser sits close to the entrance of her bookstore. Her silver locks are all that can be seen as she looks down into the spiral notebook where she keeps track of inventory and calculates a customer’s bill by hand.
The Magic Door IV is her first venture as a used bookstore owner, although she has learned plenty from watching her husband Dwain, who has owned at least five bookstores before, three of which were Magic Door I, II, and III. “I was a customer of his during Magic Door II,” she relates freely, as if she knows everyone around her. “Then I married him during Magic Door III, and now here we are. He is a pro-bookstore owner. I am still an amateur.”
But amateur she is not. She knows her bookstore like the back of her hand. She can tell the exact section in which a desired book might be found and knows the right time to show off that small, vintage, well taken care of Shakespeare book worth one hundred dollars.
The deep and narrow bookstore is warm and welcoming. Its shelves are restacked with a new book the minute another one is sold. There is only two chairs for customers to sit and browse and both have the power to lure. There is a classic literature shelf; Neruda in its poetry section; there is fiction and non; but there is no romance collection.
All books are well taken care of and offered at a good price. The store also purchases books in good condition from its customers. “We don’t do book-per-book exchanges,” explains JoAnn. “We’ll take a look at the books, give you an estimate of what they’re worth to us, and give you that amount in credit for anything in our store. Including the t-shirts!”
The Magic Door IV is located in the heart of the Arts Colony in Pomona at 155 W. 2nd Street, Pomona CA. The store is open Tuesday through Saturday from 1 pm to 8 pm and Sunday from 2 pm to 8 pm. However, on the second Saturday of each month, when the entire neighborhood celebrates its monthly Art Walk, the Magic Door IV, like the rest of the businesses around it, stays open until midnight.
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