Looking for a copy of Lapham's Quarterly? Or how about the latest issue of Artforum? RAGS News Stand has been supplying Orange Countians with their favorite titles of printed matter for nine years and has sat in the same nondescript location since opening: a tiny shop behind the North Left restaurant in Downtown Santa Ana. RAGS carries a wide array of publications, priding itself on offering hard-to-find international magazines.
“I'm a big people person,” says RAGS storeowner James Kendrick. “The customer base here is broad, from CEOs to teens to working-class folks.” Kendrick is the friendly, affable face who greets everyone. Kendrick worked for more than 30 years as a retail grocery clerk, as well as a park commissioner for Santa Ana. He had the idea for the store about six years before opening while helping to organize events for children; he realized there was a need for reading material. “I used my life's savings to open RAGS,” he says. “It's definitely been a roller-coaster ride ever since.”
Kendrick is also a big patron of the arts; paintings and other pieces by local artists for sale line the walls, while art-focused magazines for the creative types sit on the racks. Art News and the top-selling Juxtapoz reside beside Paris Review, Wall Street Journal, Lucky Peach, Financial Times, and countless other mags that relate to culture, LGBTQ, motorcycle, design, automotive, organic food and spiritual lifestyles. There are 50-cent vintage magazines, back issues and, of course, the three S's: sweets, snacks and smokes.
Kendrick says there's a pretty good number of clients who rush through every day, but his stand is still pretty hidden. “I haven't given up yet,” he says. “I'm 65 years old. But my life is here.”
RAGS International News Stand, 454 N. Broadway St., Ste. 100, Santa Ana, (714) 836-7247.
Aimee Murillo is calendar editor and frequently covers film and previously contributed to the OCW’s long-running fashion column, Trendzilla. Don’t ask her what her favorite movie is unless you want to hear her lengthy defense of Showgirls.