The LAT reports that Diesel Books, of Malibu and Oakland, is opening a third neighborhood outpost this September in Brentwood, which lost its landmark Dutton’s bookstore earlier this spring.

Developer James Rosenfield offered Diesel’s owners a break on rent to entice them to Brentwood Country Mart at San Vicente Boulevard and 26th Street. Martha Groves explains:

John Evans, Diesel’s co-owner, said that a year or so ago, Rosenfield approached independent bookstore owners on the Westside about opening in the mart, an anachronistic but successful retail center that resembles a red New England barn.

“Everybody said no, for some obvious reasons, one of which was Dutton’s,” Evans said. After Dutton’s announced that it was closing, Evans and his partner, Alison Reid, decided the time was right despite the daunting economics facing book merchants.

“Here’s an opportunity to go into a place that can support a bookstore,” Evans added.

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