With this letter we announce that Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood is for sale. We have spent the past 34 years establishing and nurturing our bookstores. It has been deeply satisfying for the two of us to build a business together and to watch it take off.

In 1989, we opened our first bookstore.  We wanted it to be fun, smart, helpful, engaging, accessible to everyone, discerning, and delightful.  At the time, we were different than many other stores in the area – we were a bit more playful; our selection was a bit deeper than other general bookstores our size; and we were intensely reader-focused, providing excellent customer service, because we cared.

We still do – about books, about people, about culture, and about our society.  We brought our distinct, and distinctive, styles, knowledge, and sensibilities to it all.  And people liked it.  We still do all of that, and still have wonderful booksellers who believe in it.

Over the years we’ve brought 5 bookstores to 5 different communities, feeling the need, the desire, and the appetite for books and what can be found in them.  We sold our first bookstore to our manager in Oakland.  We have two bookstores now, one in LA and one in San Diego, both of which are now for sale.

With your generous support, we were able to sustain the store through the pandemic, providing books to readers in need.  We couldn’t have done it without you. We’ve decided it is time to step back from bookselling and hopefully find a new engaged bookseller to keep the spirit alive, and the tradition going. We are excited to pass on our beautiful bookstore in Brentwood and put it in the hands of someone who will carry the store, and whose energy and vision will take it beyond what we have created.  We are fortunate to have a knowledgeable, dedicated staff that have diverse reading interests, specialties, sensibilities, and histories.

You, our loyal readers, have been an essential part of the equation in making a successful bookstore. Having your support has made it possible for this bookstore to not only survive, but now thrive and grow.  It has been an unequaled pleasure, and we feel lucky and grateful to have taken this journey through the pandemic, and out, with you.

We hope to find new owners who will respect what we’ve built and carry on these valuable relationships--inevitably in their own way. If you or someone you know might be interested in buying Diesel in Brentwood, please go to the Buyers Guide for information on how to submit a proposal. If you’d like to respond to this news, you can write to us at sale@dieselbookstore.com. We would like to accomplish the sale by January of 2024.

With our gratitude,
Alison Reid & John Evans
Diesel, A Bookstore