On South Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, Al’s Newsstand is open for business each weekday at 6:30 A.M. The owner, Al Brooks, has been in the newsstand business for 44 years. He opened his first store on Fairfax Avenue across the street from Canter’s Deli, and at one point, he had locations on the Third Street Promenade and in San Francisco. He’s been at the Beverly Drive location since 1984.
“This is one of the last newsstands in the city,” Brooks told the Journal. “The whole industry has drastically changed. It’s tough with the advent of the internet. Everybody does things on a tablet or on a phone.”
Brooks recalled the times he was at his busiest. Most recently, it was the morning of January 27, 2020, the day after Kobe Bryant died. Mourners and collectors came in droves to pick up copies of the Los Angeles Times with the front page obituary headline, “He was a talent like no other.” Brooks sold over 1,000 copies that day.
On an ominous note, the bottom left corner of that front page was an eerie pre-pandemic headline: “State sees first two cases of new virus.”
The largest sale of a magazine Brooks ever experienced was the September 2005 Vanity Fair issue featuring Jennifer Aniston breaking her silence about her divorce from Brad Pitt. He also remembers exceptionally heavy business in the wake of Michael Jackson’s sudden passing in 2009.
‘People can get the magazines online, but to tactically hold something, that’s what they want to remember and hold on to.’ — Al Brooks
“People can get the magazines online, but to tactically hold something, that’s what they want to remember and hold on to,” Brooks said.
Last fall had another surge, as locals and collectors flocked to get newspapers at Al’s following the crowning of the NBA Champion Lakers and World Series Champion Dodgers.
While there is the spike in sales around historic times, Al’s Newsstand has its daily shoppers that Brooks and his staff have come to know by name. One time, sportscaster Al Michaels showed up. Both Als are graduates of Hamilton High School.
The newsstand also sells an impressive collection of magazines and newspapers of historic importance. While one side of Brooks’ newsstand has publications from the present day, the other side features an eclectic history of news from the past 60 years, such as a LIFE Magazine with a cover story on President Richard Nixon, a Newsweek with a cover on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the final issue of The Los Angeles Herald Examiner. There’s an array of old comic book and sports trading cards that Brooks likes to show to the younger customers.
The sight of the historic headlines is a reminder of how different the world of news publications is today. With declining reader interest in paying for news, many prominent publications are promoting subscription deals that seem almost too good to be true. TIME is selling an annual subscription for $24.95 per year. Sports Illustrated is selling a print subscription for $20 for one year, or $30 for two.
As the print news revenue margins get thinner, and some publications eliminate print altogether, print still carries a certain dignity and reverence that digital doesn’t. After all, people are willing to pay hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of dollars to place a loved one’s obituary in print.
Brooks says that there has been a resurgence in demand for fashion, home decoration and art magazines.
“The photos don’t show as vividly on a laptop or tablet as they do in print,” he said.
Brooks, who is 80, has degenerating eyesight, so the larger print features on smartphones and tablets are alluring. But that still doesn’t stop him from selling his part of the 20 million-plus print newspapers that America will read today. And tomorrow, Brooks expects another visit from the regulars who start their morning reading ritual with a physical newspaper.
Why do they do it?
“People get into a habit,” Brooks said. “And old habits are hard to break.”
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