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Earl’s Corner Used Books, located at 717 San Benito Street in Hollister, celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting on Mar. 7.
Owners Patrick and Christina Larabell said the store held its soft opening in October, but took a while to get everything situated before going ahead with the grand opening.
“We just kind of spruced it up,” Christina said, “and got a little bit of social media out. People have been so wonderful. Business has been great, and we’ve been welcomed very warmly.”
Earl’s, named after the couple’s dog, carries mostly fiction, romance and mystery books, but also has sections for nonfiction, children’s and young adult books, self-help, religion and travel.
Hollister resident Diane Mateus said Earl’s is a great addition to Hollister and that she wanted to bring her family to help celebrate its opening.
“I love Earl’s bookstore because of the amount of books that they have,” she said, “and how friendly they are. And, of course, there is Earl the dog.”
Mateus was mostly buying books for her children, Finn and Mara. She said the store has a great children’s section for schoolchildren, as well as for little kids who are just learning to read.
Finn, she said, is really into the “Dog Man” series by Dav Pilkey, so they like to come and pick up any Dog Man books that they have.
Geoffrey Hollander, who formerly taught at Rancho San Justo School, said it was good that there were more opportunities for people to access books in the city.
He buys mostly history books and recently picked up “Alexander Hamilton,” a biography by Ron Chernow.
“Because it’s a used bookstore,” Hollander said, “it is an opportunity to let more people get books at the price that they can afford.”
Christina Larabell said that people have been bringing in books—sometimes many boxes at a time—to exchange for store credit or to donate.
We are very blessed to have the community bringing in a plethora of books for us,” she said.
We are thankful to the community and we’re glad that we’re here in Hollister.”
Earl’s Used Book Store is on Instagram and Facebook.
Geoffrey Holland reading front side of “Rescue at Los Baños” by Bruce Henderson. Photo by Adam Bell. 
Everyone having a great time looking around at Earl’s Corner Used Books. Photo by Adam Bell. 
Katya Palacios are looking at books together. Photo by Adam Bell. 
Earl’s Corner Used Books. Photo by Adam Bell. 
Julius Baladad looking at books. Photo by Adam Belll. 
Earl is enjoying some love with Wim Vandenberg. Photo by Adam Bell. 
Rich Baladad enjoying a book. Photo by Adam Bell.
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