Renaissance Book Shop

This place is pretty awesome! After dropping off my rental car I was still early for my flight. I happened to be walking by and was excited I had the extra time to browse the shop. In all honestly, the place is a bit of a mess, but to me that's part of the magic. The store definitely still has some semblance of organization and the book categories are clearly marked. Prices seem to range from $2 all the way up to a standard new book price of $27.

I browsed around for a while, but I was particularly excited about the children's section. I like to bring my son home something from a trip and a book is a perfect gift. He's obsessed with the Little Engine That Could and I found two oversized vintage books from the early 2000s. Since those versions aren't in print anymore it was quite the exciting find. I know this wouldn't be exciting for most, but the find was thrilling to me. ;) I'm excited to give the book to my son!

Love that this is a store to browse at the airport and next time I'm flying through MKE, I will definitely be stopping in.

The best used bookstore in an airport. Ok, the only used bookstore in any airport! Leave room in your carry on bag for a treasure or two. Pray for a flight delay. That way you don't feel too rushed. Reasonable prices. Expert staff will leave you alone to browse. It's outside security so leave time to pay and bring your own bag. It's nearly impossible to leave without a great book.

This bookstore files and incredible atmosphere and absolutely wonderful people working there. It was absolute delight, stopping in.

I love visiting this Milwaukee airport because of this bookstore. It has quite an amazing the collection of books. Though it is packed with books, each time I ask an employee for a book I am looking for, they know exactly where to find it. It is a charming, unique experience to stop here. I make sure I get to the airport early specifically to shop at Renaissance Books! With the plethora of shops in the terminal, this is one that is not like those in every other airport.... the other shops can be found in all major airport and cities, not this one!! Love it!!!

I love that this place exists. I hope it can exist even if it doesn't pay rent (I mean, I don't know if it does). It should be paid to exist there!
All that said, I purchased a few books there, including Foxfire 2. The rest of the Foxfires are still there. I'm wondering if I should mail it back to them so they have a full set....
I stopped flying into MKE when my dad's eyesight wasn't good enough for the trip to pick me up. If I can find reasonably priced rental cars around MKE, I'll fly there again and definitely peruse the bookshop.

This bookshop is in the Milwaukee airport. Usually airport bookstores are lame: tiny, with the same books/selection. But this bookshop doesn't feel like an airport bookshop! It has used books. And books piled everywhere. And bookshelves stuffed with books. Definitely not your average airport book store. It's outside security, so if you want to visit, make sure you save enough time before you need to get through security!

This shop is the heart of the MKE Airport, and the only reason I am always early to pick up friends and family. My daughter and I spend time here on every trip or pickup/dropoff, and each get at least one book on every visit. The variety ranges from well-preserved classics to current reads, and are very reasonably priced! This family-run bookstore is a welcome pause in the hustle and bustle of travel, I wish more airports had a bookstore like this one, it is an absolute gem!!

A nice little bookstore with a wide range of new and used books.
It's hardly an expectation to find this type of thing in an airport, but definitely a welcome change to what you typically see in such places. The one thing that was consistent however is the gouging prices on used items. Far too high for me to want to purchase anything, despite the decent condition and better than average selection.
That, unfortunately, is quite typical for airport bookstores and makes this a disappointment which keeps it from being a 5 star experience. A fair price and a bit of integrity goes a long way these days, but still, kudos to a great idea. Hopefully someone takes it just one step further.

If I could give zero stars I would. Extremely disrespectful staff and terrible customer service. I called in this afternoon looking for books authored by Indigenous folks to revamp a youth centered library at a non-profit organization in MKE. The man who answered did not have any interest in helping me. He gave me really gruff and short answers & was very vague saying things like "I dont know youll have to come in" with an annoyed tone. The phone call ended with him HANGING UP ON ME after asking if there was someone who could better answer my questions about potential discounts for buying in bulk through a non-profit organization. Not only was the whole interaction highly unprofessional but due to one individual's actions this store lost out on a great opportunity for community collaboration and of course money. I did not get a chance to figure out who I was speaking to or to get a manager on the phone because I was hung up on before the conversation got to that point. DO NOT spend your money here.

I saw a review that said, "there are places that sell books, and there are book shops. Renaissance is a book shop" and I think this couldn't be more true. I went in without direction and ended up learning about various sci-fi authors and sci-fi conventions from the guy running the shop, and purchased a book I've been wanting to start for ages. This kind of connection is unheard of in an airport!