The beloved Samuel French Film & Theatre Bookshop on Sunset Boulevard closed for good this week.

  • Longstanding WeHo theater bookshop shuttered suddenly
  • Actresses and others in entertainment community had rallied to save it
  • Online sales and a recent break-in accelerated the store's closure

 

The owners had planned to close at the end of the month because of declining sales, but a break-in March 5 and subsequent police investigation caused the store to close early, according to a post on the shop’s Instagram account.

Samuel French sells and licenses thousands of plays to theater groups. Music conglomerate Concord Music purchased the publisher in 2018, but disputes the suggestion that the new ownership was responsible for the decision to close the location on Sunset.

“The decision to close the store was not made lightly and occurred before the sale of Samuel French was concluded,” the post said. “We cannot continue to lose money – we need those resources to support writers and make theatre happen for as many people as possible.”

A group of actresses had begun circulating a petition to urge Concord to keep the store open, citing the brick and mortar location as a haven for local artist and aspiring actors. The petition gained more than 7,000 signatures.

“I own a theater company and I work at an acting studio, so I’m always looking for new works and they’ve always guided me to something really wonderful,” said actress Nicole Monet, who was shocked when the store suddenly announced the closure in February.

Veteran actress Frances Fisher also supported the petition. Fisher is considering reaching out to the Guilds to see if they might create a consortium in order to pool resources to make a new supportive space for entertainment artists in the wake of the closure.

Concord music said it would be willing to support a new L.A. store “with favorable pricing and payment terms.”