Drake's Bookstore in West Hollywood has closed its doors and that often overused "end of an era" phrase is the only thing we can think of at this time---perhaps because it's completely accurate.  This serves as more than a mere reminder that nothing remains the same. People, places, and things evolve but when a store like Drake's closes it's not evolution, it's extinction. And it is just plain sad.

  Actually the store closing in West Hollywood was akin to the other show dropping.  the A friend of ours went to the closing sale at Drake's in West Hollywood and got a double dose of culture shock when he learned that the original Drake's on Melrose Ave had closed months before. Unfortunately we already had seen this happen and this closing was a little more gut-wrenching than the Weho store's departure because the Melrose location seemed to have been there forever.

 Our first recollection of Drake's on Melrose was of a rust-colored unassuming storefront with small windows and very little to draw attention to it. This was a time when adult bookstores were also video arcades with booths where horny men could watch a grainy porn flick and beat off. There was also the back alley where all manner of hookups would transpire (the congestion in the parking lot behind Weho's Circus of Books could be daunting). During the late 70s and early 80s Melrose Ave was going through a revolution. Vintage clothing stores, cool indie record shops, and offbeat pop culture emporiums were changing the street into a neon lit hipster haven. Smack in the middle of this geographic boom was Drake's which successfully capitalized on the increased foot traffic by reinventing itself. It tore away its old facade, put up a new one with a classy sign and a glowing lightning bolt architectural feature that seemed to split the front in two with two large store windows on either side. The booths were removed and replaced with shelves for gay adult video tapes and gay magazines, books, toys, etc. Drake's renovation was accompanied by a inclusion of product like mainstream calendars and greeting cards that they could feature at the front of the store and get that precious foot traffic.

 Another renovation occurred in a few years and Drake's was emboldened to feature more gay oriented and adult product in its display windows while videos would eventually give in to DVD rentals. Other stores opened in Weho, Amsterdam and Prague. Interesting store here too. Prague was so eager to be rid of its Communist laws and oppression that the city had virtually no restrictions on stores like Drake's. You would think that the same would be true for Amsterdam but there were conditions. Someone we know was the buyer for the chain and was in Amsterdam when the so-called sex police were threatening to shut Drake's down. You see, after certain nighttime hours adult stores had free reign--non-adult store could not be open at the same time. The police though that Drake's was one of the non-adult stores and was staying open illegally. When the managers informed the police that Drake's was indeed adult, the officer replied, "well then you have to put more pussies and dildos in the window".

  By the so-called gay '90s and into the 21st century competition from other stores and the internet, the changes on Melrose Ave and the virtual mainstreaming of gay pop culture contributed to downturn at Drake's.  Of course a crappy economy and retail overall suffering badly were important factors too. New owners eventually came along but as we've seen in the last few months and this past weekend nothing could prevent the demise of Drake's.

   Yep, the end of an era.