New business in Tacoma becomes one stop shop for books, thrift and records

The business owners of Last Letter Books, Persona Thrift and Janku Land hope to create unique and specially curated stock not available elsewhere in the city.

On Sept. 27, Last Letter Books and Persona Thrift held their grand opening, moving in with Janku Land Records inside of Tacoma’s old Wonder Bread building at 1720 S. 7th St. Suite 104. Janku Land celebrated their six-year anniversary the same day.

The process of running a small business has been a learning curve for Last Letter Books owner John P. Formerly a carpenter in Portland, Oregon, he built the bookshelves and tables and has learned how to best manage the space inside of the suite.

“It is a small space, so I really have to manage it, I do not have any room to have any garbage,” John told the Ledger. “I think the stock is pretty good that I opened with but there is always room for improvement. You just keep chasing your vision of the perfect spot, I want it to be a space that I would want to visit.”

The owners have developed a specialized collection ranging from international music to true crime novels that separates themselves from other book, record and thrift stores. Finding an audience that larger businesses and chain stores do not focus on was also a factor.

“If I stick to stuff I like, I can communicate that with customers and build the clientele around that,” John said. There have been a few customers who totally love the place. You want to build it for everyone, but when you have a connection with somebody, that is really satisfying.”

Throughout the last fifteen years, physical media has been affected by the digitalization of media which has resulted in e-books sharing the market with books and streaming platforms sharing the market with records. Although books and records are not obsolete, the markets for them are smaller than they were in previous generations. Despite this, John is a firm believer that if you build it, they will come.

Within the last few years, records have risen back in popularity with younger generations, resulting in companies raising the prices of records due to heavy demand. Many retailers now sell records for over $30 each, making it an expensive hobby for fans.

Additionally, many new albums are produced with streaming services in mind rather than physical music, resulting in an equal or even inferior sound quality on records. Janku Land however, sells older presses for an affordable price.

“I come from a punk kind of DIY philosophy, so I am grounded in this notion that you want to make things accessible to everyone class-wise,” John said. “I am not a businessperson, so I do not understand the exchange any other way than trying to give something cool to someone that you like.”

Janku Land owner Taiga also comes from a similar background. Between moving the store into different locations, Taiga would be a vendor at the Punk Rock Flea Market in Seattle selling vintage and original pressings of records. Now re-opened at the new location, he has brought the same philosophy, selling international, vintage and rare pressings of records for reasonable prices. The genres sold include Punk, Classic Rock, and Jazz among others.

Opening on 6th Avenue in Tacoma, the owners are looking to add to an already culturally rich part of Tacoma, which is highlighted by a large number of small businesses and street art by local artists. Once future businesses open, they would like to work with other similar small businesses to achieve that.

“I want to invest in this street and we want to do right by the street,” John said. “I think if all the right things move onto this street that we will all help each other. If there are six cool record stores or bookstores, people will come from all over the place and go too all of them.”

Despite all of the businesses occupying the same floor, the owners are committed to maximizing the space and offering accessible products that cannot be found elsewhere. Built off the interests of each owner, each item has its place in the collection and the owners are knowledgeable about what they sell.

You can find updates on Janku Land Records, Last Letter Books and Persona Thrift on Instagram at @janku_land, @last_letter_books, and @persona_tacoma. The businesses are open Wednesday through Sunday from noon until 6 p.m.