Bookmans has been a consistent stop for my family for years. We have spent significant time in Bookmans Flagstaff, Tucson, and Mesa - before the Phoenix location opened up. For most of the 20+ years I have shopped Bookmans I would have given it 5 stars, but in the last couple of years a few things have changed to reduce my rating. Bookmans rarely takes in hardback books. Per the Phoenix Manager they do not sell and therefore rarely accepted for trade. It seems to me that a better policy would be to adjust trade-in / sell prices down to reflect paperbacks and take them in. It would build inventory and increase customer retention and options. The most disappointing thing recently was when I went to buy some video games for my children. They seemed fairly expensive so I checked on-line for prices at Amazon. Amazon, brand-new, games were the same price, or a dollar or two more, than Bookmans. When I asked the clerk about this she said that they used "Gamestop" prices to base their price off of. Gamestop is dramatically more expensive than Amazon. So I went home and ordered my kids video games on Amazon. I still love shopping Bookman's for used books though!
One last note the staff at Bookmans Phoenix is significantly less friendly than the staff at Bookmans Mesa.