Book Castle

The Book Castle Network (Anaheim & Burbank)Operational Timeline: 1975 – Late 1990sFounders & Key Ownership: Jerome Joseph and Larry Mullen (Anaheim origins); Paul Hunt, Steve Edrington, Irene Edrington, James Bruckner (Burbank expansion).Origins in Anaheim (1975–1977)The first iteration of the business was registered as a general partnership between Jerome Joseph and Larry Mullen in January 1975. Operating at 106 W. Lincoln (and later expanding into 166–170 W. Lincoln Ave) in Anaheim, the store heavily marketed its proximity to Disneyland and a massive starting inventory of 40,000 used books and comics. By 1976, the original partnership dissolved, and ownership passed to Franklin W. Nordahl. The Anaheim location ultimately succumbed to urban redevelopment in 1977 when all fixtures and equipment were transferred to the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency.The Burbank Golden Mall Expansion (Late 1970s–1980s)Following the Anaheim closure, Larry Mullen partnered with Paul Hunt to open a new Book Castle in Burbank. By 1981, the ownership group secured an abandoned Woolworth variety store at 200 N. Golden Mall, launching a massive 30,000-square-foot flagship. This location became a cultural landmark in the San Fernando Valley, housing over a million items, including 200,000 hardbacks, an organized basement holding 400,000 additional books, and vast collections of vintage magazines, screenplays, and early editions of the Los Angeles Times.The Bibliographic Armada & Movie World Annex (1990s)In the 1990s, the city of Burbank ripped up the pedestrian Golden Mall to reintroduce vehicular traffic, changing the flagship's address to 200 N. San Fernando Blvd. During this period, the business expanded into a "bibliographic armada" of specialized branch locations:Bond Street Books (144 S. San Fernando Blvd.): A specialty branch focused on military history, true crime, and conspiracy literature.The Magnolia Branch (3604 W. Magnolia Blvd.): A dedicated collector's shop specializing in scholarly texts, Irish history, and fine literature.Book Castle's Movie and Magazine World (212 N. San Fernando Blvd.): A 20,000-square-foot warehouse annex managed by Bill Nelson. This branch specialized in theater books, celebrity biographies, and hundreds of thousands of vintage periodicals, ranging from historical Time magazines featuring Gen. George S. Patton to 1950s movie magazines. The annex also sold unique consignment memorabilia, such as $150 plaster life masks cast by makeup artists from the faces of actors like Boris Karloff, Buster Keaton, and Sylvester Stallone. The Final Liquidation The massive flagship location operated on month-to-month leases and faced constant pressure from downtown Burbank's revitalization. After surviving a grassroots battle against a proposed billiard hall in the early 1990s, the store ultimately lost its lease when landlords sought higher rent to make way for a Blockbuster Video store. Manager Malcolm Macdonald oversaw the store's final weeks, which culminated in a massive "Dutch Sale". On the Fourth of July, the business closed its doors for good at 10 p.m. by hosting a final chapter giveaway, allowing individual book lovers to cart away the remaining 200,000 books and magazines for free. 130 N. San Fernando Blvd: Best Seller Book Shop (Paperbacks)