Big move to new Tucson store shows the evolution of Bookmans

It would be stretching a point to suggest Bookmans Entertainment Exchange has everything a shopper might want at its five locations in Arizona. Judging by the store’s name, it doesn’t carry apostrophes. Still, browsers can find new and used books, records, CDs, musical instruments, puzzles, games, electronics, knickknacks, collectibles …

“It’s a lot,” says Kati Aguilar, and she should know.

Bookmans has merged two of its three Tucson locations into one, and Aguilar was among the staff members who relocated 287,000 books, 54,000 DVDs, 12,8000 CDs and 7,400 records to the new store at 4841 N. Stone Avenue, north of Tucson Mall.

“I got my steps in,” the assistant store manager laughed, and she can’t rest yet. The new Bookman’s store is now open. The hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

The entire inventory came from the northwest store on West Ina Road and the midtown location on East Speedway near the Loft Cinema, both now closed.

It’s interesting how times have changed. The first time the store moved — from its original location on North Tucson Boulevard to the corner of East Grant Road and North Campbell Avenue in 1985 — owner Bob Oldfather asked customers to help him haul boxes.

This latest move was a bit more complicated.

“All of us at both stores started packing up boxes in August,” Aguilar said. “We shortened our hours so we could focus on the move two hours a day, but we were packing up boxes all day long. When the storeroom was full at the northwest store, we put pallets out on the floor. For awhile there, the nonfiction section was right where it belonged … but all the books were in boxes.”

Once the merchandise reached the new store, staffers then unpacked and shelved it all. Eat your heart out, United Van Lines!

Known internally as the “River” location, the new store is almost exactly half-way between the two stores that closed — about 7 miles from both. This section of Stone, between Sam’s Club and West River Road, is heavily traveled.

“There is nothing easy about saying goodbye to two of our most popular stores, but we’re hoping the new location is close enough that they’ll come here,” Bookmans President Sean Feeney said.

The store’s management team is betting the move will prove to be addition by subtraction. Faced with expiring leases and aging facilities on Ina Road and Speedway, Bookmans has “downsized” to a newly renovated, centrally-located, 22,000-square-foot space on Stone Avenue.

Customers will see the difference the moment they walk in the door. This isn’t your mom and dad’s Bookmans store. It is large, brightly-lit and colorful, with clearly-defined areas for each department.

Planners were conscious of modern trends when deciding what would go where.

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“The layouts at our other stores have pretty much evolved over time,” Communications Director Ryan Dillard said. “Here we had a blank canvas. We could be purposeful about where to put things, how to display things.”

Two new areas of emphasis: a vinyl records section, complete with a “vinyl lab” that cleans and flattens disks, and a “Geek Zone” that offers action figures, Pokémon cards, manga, comic books and games.

Any music store would be proud of Bookmans’ large and brightly-lit musical instrument department.

It will be interesting to see how the new location evolves in the months ahead. Because Bookmans is an exchange store — what comes in today will be on the shelves tomorrow — no two Bookmans stores are the same. Each reflects the lifestyles of its customers. Each has its own unique clientele.

Aguilar said most of the customers so far have been regulars from the two stores that moved — “they knew about it because they saw the boxes” — but the demographics will change once word starts to spread.

“We’ll be looking at that, for sure,” she said. “What kind of music do they like? What kind of books do they like? It will be fun to find out.”

Bookmans now has two locations in Tucson, the other being at 6230 E. Speedway, near North Wilmot Road.

The state’s largest independent bookstore, Bookmans also has locations in Flagstaff, Phoenix and Mesa.

Footnotes

One thing Bookmans staff members did not have to worry about when they learned of the merger: their jobs. All 42 employees at the two stores moved with the books to the new store on Stone.

Bookmans is as deep-down-Tucson as El Charro and Eegee’s. Oldfather bought the store from his father in 1976. The purchase price: $1.

Poet Marilyn Chin will read and sign books Thursday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. at the University of Arizona Poetry Center. To learn more visit, poetry.arizona.edu.

The Tucson Festival of Books will announce its first list of authors at an event called “Chapter One” on Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. at the UA Bookstore. Author Shelby Van Pelt will also be there to discuss “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” a novel that has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 25 weeks. The event is free and open to everyone. RSVP by visiting tucsonfestivalofbooks.org.

Author Matthew Desmond, author of the bestselling “Poverty, By America,” will be in Tucson Dec. 12. His appearance is a fundraiser for the Primavera Foundation, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. For tickets, visit primavera.org.