Jeremy and Debbie Kaplan haven’t sold a book out of their store, READ Books, in nearly half a year.
“It took us six months to find a place. It’s been almost six months since we’ve had any income,” says Jeremy Kaplan, who provided a tour of the new location on a rainy Wednesday as they prepared to reopen.
READ Books, which was in Eagle Rock for more than 19 years, has relocated to Cypress Park at 594 West Avenue 28. For those familiar with the original location, you can reach the new one by driving south on Eagle Rock Boulevard for 3 miles, and with a street name change or two, be there in about 10-15 minutes.
Sign up for our free newsletter about books, authors, reading and more
READ Books owners Jeremy and Debbie Kaplan, after being priced out of Eagle Rock by a proposed 133% rent hike, have reopened their store in Cypress Park. Jeremy Kaplan shows off the store ahead of the reopening on Oct. 21, 2026. (Photo by Erik Pedersen / SCNG)
As he prepared for the Oct. 23 soft reopening, Kaplan showed off the space, which is more than twice the size of the original location and already filling up with books. While adding a couch and a display table were immediate needs, he said they were considering ways to make the spot work for both themselves and the neighborhood.
“We’re looking at pop-ups, maybe coffee or tea, and we can have community events,” he says, adding that he plans to add movable bookshelves he can shift for meetings. “It’s a large space, and we could use some help with the rent.”
The Kaplans and their 17-year-old shop dog, Florence, relocated after being informed that their rent would increase by 133%, which was untenable for the tiny, 650-square-foot space.
“We found out in February this was happening and we started looking for places in Eagle Rock and Highland Park, and there was nothing there,” says Kaplan. “They’re all either being kept vacant intentionally, or they’re all like just ridiculous prices. … There’s nothing we could take that we would have been able to survive on. So yeah, Eagle Rock and Highland Park are cooked.”
LA’s READ Books in Eagle Rock says a rent increase is forcing them out
Since the proposed rent increase, Kaplan and others started a group, SNELAS: Save Northeast Los Angeles Shops, to combat what he sees as a growing displacement trend as small businesses are pushed out and spaces allowed to remain empty, harming local businesses and communities. While he praises several local leaders for their help, he says he’d like to see, say, the L.A. mayoral candidates address the issue.
“We’re still working through our organization, SNELAS: Save Northeast Los Angeles Shops, to get legislation done. Things like this are popping up all over the city,” says Kaplan, citing examples of store owners facing similar situations in Sherman Oaks, South Pasadena and Los Angeles.
“They’re in shock,” says Kaplan. “They’re afraid, and it’s hard to get them to fight back. Some do.”
Kaplan says they found the new space by chance.
“It was really hard to find this place. The only reason we got it is because we were driving by the day the sign went up. I’m sure if we hadn’t been, it would have been gone in a few days. Places like this and landlords who aren’t charging ridiculous prices are like unicorns now,” says Kaplan, who praises the landlord’s interest in the bookstore and how it can add to the community.
“They’re not interested in selling it to a corporation, which gives us some more security. But I mean, the problem still exists,” he says.
Even as he sets up to get back to the business of selling books, Kaplan says he still feels the strain.
“We didn’t get to make money for half a year, and it takes a lot of stress,” he says. “I still don’t sleep right.”
Map: 100 Southern California independent bookstores to visit in 2026