San Pablo's 'Word of God' carves out special…
San Pablo's 'Word of God' carves out special bookstore niche
PUBLISHED: April 27, 2016 at 3:37 p.m. | UPDATED: May 18, 2018 at 1:44 a.m.
SAN PABLO — One way to thrive as an independent bookstore is to sell literature not available anywhere else. Librera Cristiana Palabra de Dios, which has operated on 23rd Street in San Pablo since 2000, occupies such a niche.
Palabra de Dios — the phrase means "Word of God" — sells Spanish-language Bibles and books, comics, films and music on evangelical Christian themes; many of the books are translated from English. A poster in the window heralds "Apocalyptic Times," replete with references to the Biblical book of Revelation.
The business is not highly lucrative, but it makes enough money to get by, store manager Francisca Hernandez said. The location offers just the right balance of visibility and economical rent, she said.
Palabra de Dios has a second store on San Francisco's Mission Street; a third, in San Jose, closed last year. The rent at the San Jose store was $4,000 a month, Hernandez said. The San Pablo store pays $1,600 a month.
"Now we have clients from San Jose who come here," Hernandez said, "or we ship by UPS."
Business was down during the recession of several years ago, but has recovered since, she said. Palabra de Dios does both retail and wholesale business.
The clientele is of all ages, Hernandez said, but the store is increasing its repertoire of English-language materials, perhaps a sign of the times.
"Many young Latinos cannot, or don't want to, read in Spanish," Hernandez said. "It is easier for them to read in English."
Contact Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760. Follow him at Twitter.com/tomlochner.