Discontinued (Soon): DC Transplant KULTURAs Books Heads Back East

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A tipster points us towards an article in yesterday's Santa Monica Daily Press, announcing that Ocean Park's KULTURAs bookstore will be shutting its doors on July 20. The business, which originated in 1989 in Washington DC, relocated to Santa Monica three years ago—just in time for the economy to begin its slide. During their west coast stint, co-owners Andrew MacDonald and Irene Coray tried several tactics to help their shop thrive, from opening a second outpost on 4th Street in Downtown LA to incorporating art and vintage clothing into the mix, but Coray tells the paper that sales were "a quarter, if (that much)" of what they were in DC.

The duo chalks their bad luck up to several factors, from the lack of a subway culture (and, with it, subway reading time) to a media that would rather report on the woes of indie bookstores than what they're doing right. Either way, they're hoping to reclaim some of their former glory when they return to DC later this summer— locations for the newest incarnation of KULTURAs are currently being scouted around Dupont Circle, where it all began.
· Another One Bites the Dust [Santa Monica Daily Press]
· KULTURAs [Official Site]