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Bookmans Entertainment Exchange
Rating Details »
Categories: Books, Mags, Music and Video, Electronics [Edit]
1930 E Grant RdTucson, AZ 85719
(520) 325-5767
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
14 reviews for Bookmans Entertainment Exchange
J'adore Bookmans. Notice how they recently removed the apostrophe in the newer logo? It is now neither possessive nor the plural "Bookmen," but "Bookmans." Gross. My inner punctuation/usage stickler is baffled. Oh, how I seethe. I can take as many hot and long showers as I can stand, but I just can't get clean.
I've been going to this particular location since I was in single digits and usually find whatever I need from hiking guides, religious texts and good fiction to bad fiction, cratedigger vinyl scores, self-help literature I don't tell people I read and even a bootleg DVD of the '70s-era TV movie "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" starring John Travolta.
A handbasket of hell yeahs to the labyrinth of used books, mags, music, movies, gaming stuff and now, random crap like toys and knickety shit. I found deliciously cheap handstamps here. I cowered in a corner with a book for adult children of alcoholics while hiding from an ex-lover who works there. I commandeered a chair from an unruly, climbing child and used their free wi-fi when my internet went down. I got the mother of all paper cuts from a record sleeve.
The staff is always friendly and helpful and will even search/call other Bookmans locations in town or locate what you're looking for if their store doesn't have what you require.
This is my default bookstore for everything and I even pop into the Mesa and Phoenix locations when I'm up north. Some books can seem a bit costly here, but this is often balanced out by gems that are priced very reasonably. The selling and trading percentages are so-so but I really only rock the trade counter when desperate to clean house of stuff to which I'm not particularly attached (suck it, overpriced and only moderately useful books on grieving, purchased off Amazon in haste after sudden and horrendously devastating death of father).
Charming new discovery: Rialto Theatre tickets have a $2 off coupon to Bookmans on the back. I found three on the ground walking out to my car after a show.
I miss Bookman's. You can get all kinds of stuff there...video games, books, old magazines, random computer stuff, board games, random knick-knacks and CDs. They've got free Wi-Fi, bathrooms, and allow dogs in the store. And some locations have porn! Woo woo! Guys Gone Wild for $8, score!
Bookmans is as close to "literary" as a provincially
boring & dumb Tucson can get. Good selections of used
books, mags, postcards, antiques, etc. They have
plenty of seating, good atmosphere and very basic
prices. This place beats the corporates at their own game.
They don't have security cameras or rude, paranoid security employees like the corporates either. What they do have is self righteous Eco hippy bonehead employees who make rude comments about customers & talk all day. I don't mind the yapping but I saw one Eco hippy employee accuse some homeless guy of "messing up the bathroom". The bathroom gets used by plenty of people & he picked on this guy for no reason.
Another annoying fact is that dogs are allowed to wander inside so expect drool on your legs, crap on the carpet, urine smells in the air & possible dog bites.
If you can get by the fact that some of the employees are nerdish, idiotic boneheads (ignore them if you can), then it isn't a bad place to sit for a while.
It was Christmas Eve day, and my brother and his girlfriend were at a wedding, so I amused myself in Tucson-only problem is almost everything is going to be closed or closing early, right?
So after a quick brunch at Lovin' Spoonfull and grabbing some coffee at Coffee XChange, I saw what I believe is the original Bookman's on the corner of Campbell and Grant-and the parking lot looked packed! So I took a chance and managed to find parking. I was used to the layout from visiting the Mesa and Phoenix locations, but this one definitely ties (or wins even) over the Mesa store I like so much. First off, it was bustling with tons of consumers and browsers for like 2:30 on Xmas Eve- but everyone was laid back. The costumers were just chilling out, looking at DVDs with friends, listening to iPods looking at rare books, sitting on the floor looking at back issues of Japanese fashion magazines. Whether people were looking for last second presents or just trying to find a fun, relaxing refuge from the mall, I am not sure.
I am not a huge DVD or CD buyer anymore, but I still can't resist books once in a while (I abuse my library cards), but I noticed near the front they had a display with some great discounted graphic novels (blankets, from hell, clumsy, etc), and found their alternative graphic novels (love and rockets, etc) quite pleasing and fun-plenty of random used and discounted remainder stock to keep me hanging out with my coffee for a good while-I moved onto their arts/graphics section-they had some good books, but wasn't overtly impressed. However they had tables and displays around the store that did have some great Taschen, Phaidon, and other assorted arts texts that were pretty appealing.
I also love their magazine section-finding recent old copies of Dwell, Fast Company, Wired, Punk Planet, Art Forum, and random shit from the 60s always makes me happy-usually from 2.50-.50 for the back copies (essential future plane reading)-it is ingenius really.
Overall, the layout is a bit confusing, but I like you can find little nooks to relax in-I found the crowd here to be younger, attractive, with some literati and families thrown in-and the staff was really down-to-earth and super helpful to me-and were totally not all frazzled or pissed off about working that day (as far as I could tell, anyway).
Yeah....
A nice place to browse. Judging by the high volume of interesting books I find used there, there have to be some interesting, intelligent people in this otherwise unbearable hole of a hamlet.
If you fit that description, please contact me and change my impression of Tucson!
Bookman's is one of the best things Tucson has going!
Bookmans is a great place to go browsing. You can walk up and down the book aisles, sort through the record stacks, find your old favorite video games, and admire the rare books collection. These are just a few examples of the fun you can have with your eyes at Bookmans. If you find anything you really like and want to take home with you, buying from this store will not cost you a whole lot. Books are typically half their cover price. I always walk over to Bookmans when I visit my grandparents.
Cool place, but 2 big issues:
1) They are really picky about what books/cds/vhs/dvd/etc. they will buy back from you. I brought in a brand new, $35 book and they offered me $2 for it. Sorry, but no.
2) It's a maze inside. I can't seem to find what I'm looking for when I go there.
Dogs, books, CDs, free Wi-Fi, friendly staff that doesn't follow you around... what more can you ask for? (Actually, the only thing I wish it had more of is electrical outlets or some power strips; it's a bummer when you get there and realize your laptop battery is almost dead but no outlets are available.) Decent selection of merchandise; I agree with Leo B. that it can be hit-or-miss; I have had much more luck finding something spectactular by browsing than I have shopping with the intent of getting a specific item. Lots of funky home decor, housewares, and miscellaneous stuff for cheap, too. Definitely one of my favorite used bookstores anywhere.
If your looking for a used book store in Tucson like Moe's or Black Oak Books in Berkeley CA this is it.
Bookman's is a great place to go to experience all of the sociology you need! I especially enjoy Christmas time when the little lady sells the tamales at the door. Unlike the "bootleg tamales" which can be found in the parking lot at Albertson's a few blocks up the street on Campbell. IT is definitely a Tucson thing. Getting credits at Bookman's is awesome! I look forward to my next visit to see what I can get.
So sad that we will be loosing this great place to the Grant Road project. Dogs are even welcome at Bookmans! Wonderful selection of used books, recordings and "things". A fun time can be had for not a cent or as much as you care to spend. Love it!
I am grateful for Bookman's though it usually is very hit or miss for me. I can on occasion find a gem of an art book or blues CD. They were very helpful in setting up an art show for me and my students. I have no clue how they price and buy back stuff but people normally get a raw deal which is really the only minus I can think of.
So, the thing about Bookman's is it's never about the destination. It's about the journey. I think Steven Tyler from Aerosmith said that. He is a wise man, with many beautiful satin scarves. Anyway...
Whenever I go into Bookman's looking for something specifically (say, a book about the Boston Celtics that I need to read to further my sportswriting career), I might find it 5% of the time. Under normal circumstances, that would be unacceptable.
You see, Bookman's is wonderful because of all the hidden/forgotten treasures you might uncover without even knowing.
I was wandering around Bookman's last week, killing time before doing whatever it is I do on Sundays, when I discovered this random collection of short stories edited by Nick Hornby. Since this man wrote "High Fidelity," I give him the benefit of the doubt on just about anything (even if his opinions on "Kid A" are woefully misguided). I thumbed through the collection and paused to read Dave Eggers' contribution. You might know Eggers as the author of "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"---a flawed, yet fantastically entertaining read. His story was this vibrant, moving tale told from the perspective of a dog, called "After I was thrown in the river and before I drowned." I had no intention on buying anything during this Bookman's excursion, but that story prompted me to pay the 5 dollars for the ragged paperback and read that story again.
I read the other stories, too. Some I liked; some I didn't (as is the case regarding any short-story compliation). But Bookman's is the ideal spot for the Tucson adventurer looking for brief moments of inspiration you wouldn't typically find anywhere else.
Also, they have old vinyl copes of Stryper's seminal Christian Metal opus "To Hell With the Devil." Remember Stryper? They wore black and yellow leather outfits? Oh, nevermind.
I was in town for business and a coworker who used to live in Tucson recommended that I drop by Bookman's for kicks if I was bored. I was on the way back to my hotel after dinner one evening and decided to swing by. Bookman's is a strange place. Aisles of used books and random used objects for sale stashed on the tables. There's magazines, DVDs, CDs also. Some interesting choices in books and I settled for a couple of bestsellers that I got for half the list price. Not a bad place to be if you've got an hour to kill.
