“My Economy” tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of people trying to make it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are the ones in your economy.

The long list of items that have become hard to come by in this economy now includes books. 

Paper shortages, supply chain problems and increased consumer demand are to blame for making new books more scarce, but the challenges are different for those in the business of selling used and vintage books. 

“During normal, non-pandemic times, we’re around a lot of people looking for books,” said Chris Capizzi, co-owner of A Good Used Book, which began selling vintage books in 2019 at flea markets and at Los Angeles’ Grand Central Market.  

When the pandemic hit, Capizzi said they had no systems in place for online sales and turned to Instagram to stay afloat. 

“After we decided to sort of go back into the physical world — to the market — we decided to ask our parents for help,” said Jenny Yang, co-owner and Capizzi’s wife. “They were able to provide a small loan for us to be able to create our physical presence back.”

Capizzi and Yang say they hope to someday outgrow the 80 square feet of retail space they currently have, and that the company is about more, ultimately, than just selling books. 

“We’re trying to use this as a community-building tool,” Capizzi said.

“We meet so many exciting and interesting people that we would not have met without selling books,” Yang said. “I don’t think that this will be us forever, but this is who we are right now.”