Diesel Bookstore in Brentwood Has New Owners

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Richard and Heather Turner are the new owners of Diesel Bookstore.

Richard and Heather Turner took over ownership of Diesel Bookstore located at the Brentwood Country Mart on August 1.

“We’re not going to change Diesel,” they said. “We love it the way it is.”

Prior owners Alison Reid and John Evans announced last August they were selling after 16 years at that location. They were discerning about the sale because they wanted owners who “will respect what we’ve built and to carry on the valuable relationships with the customers and community.”

It appears they’ve found the perfect people to take over Diesel.

Richard, who plans to be in the store every day, said he’s had two reactions from customers: “they were worried I might change something” and yet others were filled with “gratitude for sustaining the store and keeping it going.”

He reassures that everything is staying the same, and that includes keeping customers’ favorite booksellers.

Richard, who grew up in Chatsworth said, “I’ve been a reader my whole life.” He said can spend hours at a bookstore and he used to frequent Dutton’s in Brentwood. When that store closed, Diesel became his bookstore.

“I left marketing to do consulting,” said Richard, who had worked in marketing and advertising, living in Hong Kong, Belgium and Texas. More recently “I’ve been working as a ghostwriter.” The change to consulting ensured the couple’s teenage daughter had a parent at home.

The bookstore seemed a perfect fit.

He had met his wife Heather, on a blind date at the House of Blues. Currently, she is CEO/co-founder at Tamarack Capital Partners LLC. Tamarack Capital, which acquires value-add institutional quality luxury, boutique, full- and select-service hotels and resorts in major U.S. markets. Her work involves a lot of travel. She was originally from Chicago and received her master’s degree in business administration at Harvard Business School.

Richard said he had often mused that his ideal job would be running a bookstore, with a coffee shop out one door and wine store out the other.

When Heather saw that Diesel was for sale, she asked him, “Do you think this would be perfect?”

The answer? “Yes.”

Heather will keep her “day job,” but Richard is giving up consulting so he can “spend his days at the bookstore.”

He will seek Heather’s help in selecting wrapping paper and gift cards. And already their daughter has asked if she could work at the store.

Only three days into ownership, his enthusiasm about the store was infectious. “I get to come here every day,” said Richard, whose favorite genres are history and literary fiction.

“The New York Times just published the 100 books of the century,” he said. Some of the books mentioned are at the store and Richard says he hopes the list will open up conversations from people about the choices and why some books are on the list and others are not.

He said his staff will continue to make their recommendations, and they will continue to host author events.

In September there are plans to have a “Anniversary, Welcome and Thank You celebration.”

In their farewell letter Reid and Evans said “We are grateful for your sticking with us through thick and thin, through the pandemic especially, for being able to be a part of this wonderful community of passionate readers. It has been a pleasure to talk books, and all else, with you and to share the book world.”

Richard said, “The pandemic was a reminder that independent bookstores need local support. Margins are thin with bookstores.”

The Turners look forward to meeting the community. They invite everyone to stop by and say “hi” and “talk books.”

Call (310) 576-9960 or brentwood@dieselbookstore.com  or www.dieselbookstore.com

(Editor’s note: A nice welcome to the new owners from the community might be stopping by and purchasing a book, as a treat for yourself or as a gift.)

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