Bob and Marian Warwick, 1988. Courtesy warwicks.com
Warwick’s moved to its current location at 7812 Girard Ave. in 1952. Courtesy Elisabeth Frausto
Warwick’s bookstore celebrates its new lease and investors in its building on May 1. Courtesy Ashley Mackin-Solomon
(From left) Real estate broker Steve Avoyer, fourth-generation owner Nancy Warwick, and investor Jack McGrory at Warwick’s bookstore. Photo by Eduardo Contreras/The San Diego Union-Tribune
All photos below by Sandé Lollis
WARWICK’S, A BELOVED ICON in La Jolla’s walkable village, is a beacon for serious readers, beach readers, children, university faculty, artists, and many others. Known for its author readings and pre-pandemic book signings, Warwick’s says it is the oldest continuously family-owned and operated bookstore in the nation. William T. Warwick founded the store in 1896 in Minnesota, and eventually moved his family to La Jolla, where he bought an established bookstore and promptly renamed it Warwick’s. In all, he spent seven decades as a bookseller. By 1952, the store had landed a storefront with large display windows on Girard Avenue.
In 2001, Nancy Warwick and her sister, Cathy, became the latest in the family to run this legacy business. They are William’s great granddaughters and became the fourth-generation owners of the store. In early 2021, while celebrating the store’s 125th anniversary, Nancy Warwick learned that the store’s future suddenly looked murky. Warwick’s landlord informed her they had accepted an unsolicited $8.3 million bid for the building. The landlord gave her 15 days to come up with an offer to outbid the presumed buyer.
Should Warwick sign a new three-year lease with the unfamiliar buyer? Closing the store, or moving it, were other inconceivable possibilities. Community anguish was palpable. So the cry went up: Save Warwick’s! Funding appeals to loyal customers, allies, and advocates rang out in La Jolla and beyond: Save Warwick’s!
“People understood it as an important social investment,” Jack McGrory, a former San Diego city manager turned businessman who helped solicit support, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Warwick’s is a major anchor in the village, an icon. It’s important that they stay there.”
Thanks to the reputation of the store and its owner, the campaign worked! About three dozen investors, mostly from La Jolla and including Warwick family members, came forward with $8.35 million, and they bought the building. Then, the investors gave Warwick’s a 10-year lease with two five-year renewal options, or up to 20 more years of selling books.
SOHO applauds Nancy Warwick for saving an important cultural resource and gathering place that has deep roots in San Diego. It continues to attract and influence hearts and minds of all ages. This legacy business has earned the admiration and appreciation of investors and regular customers who can walk to the store, as well as far-flung visitors who learned of its curated shelves in top travel guides. Now in its 126th year, Warwick’s is a living example of how a locally owned, personally run store can impact learning and world horizons while providing a priceless sense of place.
(From left) Investor Jack McGrory, fourth-generation owner Nancy Warwick, and real estate broker Steve Avoyer. All photos by Sandé Lollis except where noted otherwise
