What the Dickens! It really is a bookstore

The bookstore's appearance smack in the middle of downtown has come so suddenly, said the owner, that some patrons gasp when they first come in. "They think it's a movie set," she said, "like the ones down the street. They ask, 'Is it real, can I come in?' "

Dozens of them came in Friday for a grand opening and party with seven local authors, a number of whom were, like co-owner Julie Swayze, members of the Sisters in Crime writers group.

Despite the considerable enthusiasm filling the room, and a handsome German poster for Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" above the cash register, the space still looks a little bare. But Metropolis Books, at 440 S. Main St. -- arriving at a time that sees far more closings than openings in the book business -- is being called the first nonspecialty, nonchain bookstore in downtown L.A. since the legendary Fowler Brothers shut its doors in 1994.

The 900-square-foot store sits in the Old Bank District, with its hipster lofts and Beaux Arts buildings that impersonate a different city each time a film crew rolls through (which is often). A block away is the retro-styled Pete's Cafe & Bar and the year-old, indie-minded Old Bank DVD store. Metropolis shares a block with a newish Vietnamese cafe, several art galleries and the Regent Theater, slated to become a rock hall next year.

"Ultimately, what it comes down to is reclaiming these blighted areas," said Andre Coleman, a science-fiction writer. "You have to put culture back -- you can't just put in a Subway or a Starbucks. I know we're close to an area called skid row, but a bookstore gives people hope."

Grand Avenue has been the focus of much of downtown's development, and books can be bought at the gift shops of Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Used and specialty bookstores come and go.

But despite downtown's residential boom -- and the old bookstore row that filled 6th Street half a century ago -- Metropolis is the first place for more than decade where a flaneur can stroll in and count on picking up a collection of classic Chekhov stories, the latest new-American cookbook and a new anthology of literary comics all in the same trip.

"This is the kind of retail we need more of," said Brigham Yen, a young downtown resident and budding real estate mogul who was browsing while listening to an iPod. "I don't know if it's PC to say, but they're reclaiming the street for the residents who live here."