City Books, a full-service bookstore, lasted exactly nine months on East Main Street in Reynoldsburg, one of the most heavily traveled streets in central Ohio. The book store had a nice selection of new books at discounted prices, overstock books, used books and a fantastic magazine selection. If you wanted to buy Otaku USA, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, or the imported Mojo (as I did), City Books was the place to do it. The store also frequently emailed 30% off coupons to its customers.
The store is closed now. There are no other book stores for miles around. I supported the store as much as possible, buying merchandise there whenever I was in the area, blogging and tweeting about the store, telling friends about the store.
Yes, ordering books off the internet is quick and easy. Brick and mortar and online stores both have pluses and minuses. The plus of a brick and mortar store is that you can browse through the actual books, see firsthand the cover art and paper quality, come across books that likely wouldn't come to your attention online, discover the amazing world of available magazines and, in this case, also support a locally owned business.
In this case, you could have.
2 comments:
I visited City Books once or twice. I just never had any money to buy anything. These days, I get stuff from the library to read or to watch, so I don't rent or buy videos or books. The closest bookstores on this side of town is the Pickerington Barnes and Nobels or, at least at one time, the Tussing Half Price books (which might be gone by now - I've not been around that area recently to see).
If you don't have the funds to purchase new books, that's completely understandable. I've been there.
The Half Price Books on Tussing is still in business - it's a fun store. I thought the Main Street corridor lost something good when the Barnes and Noble that had been next to Kinkos cut out for Pickerington, and also thought City Books nicely filled the absence. It looks like the neighborhood just can't support a book store.
The two stores in Pickerington you mentioned are worth supporting, though.
Post a Comment