Vroman's and Book Soup Change Hands After 100 Years Under Sheldon Family

Two of Los Angeles's best-known independent bookshops have new owners after 100 years under one family.

Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena and Book Soup in West Hollywood will pass to longtime customer Robert Hoffman and his family. The change closes the Sheldon family's century at Vroman's, according to Publishers Marketplace.

Joel Sheldon led Vroman's for the last 50 years. That is half of the 100-year family tenure. Long runs of that length are unusual in retail, where leases, costs and reading habits shift quickly. Fifty years spans recessions, rent rises and the growth of online retail.

Hoffman is not coming from inside the book trade. He is a Pasadena native who now lives in Washington, D.C., where he works in public policy and affairs, as reported by LAist. The Pasadena Star-News also identified him as a Pasadena native. He is taking on the shops with family, keeping the business in family ownership.

For readers unfamiliar with the jargon, independent here has a plain meaning. It describes shops that operate outside the national chains and make their own decisions on stock, staffing and events. Vroman's is the Pasadena shop. Book Soup is its West Hollywood sister shop, as noted by MyNewsLA.

The two shops have been linked since 2009. Sheldon acquired Book Soup that year after the death of its founder, Glenn Goldman. The deal brought together a Pasadena institution and a West Hollywood name known to visitors and locals alike.

What makes this stand out is the route of the sale. A regular customer has stepped forward to continue a family-owned organisation. There is no chain buyer in the verified accounts. There is no mention of closures or mergers.

The reports published on 24 and 25 September 2026 did not disclose a price or terms of trade, meaning the wholesale conditions on which shops buy books. No advance figures, print runs or sales data were part of the announcement. Staffing plans and event schedules were also not detailed. That leaves the central facts simple.

For shoppers, this means the names above the doors stay the same for now. The people at the top change. Family ownership continues, only with a different family.

Two landmark shops in Los Angeles have new stewards. A 100-year run has ended. A new family chapter has begun.