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| - Like people have said: Great atmosphere, quaint selection of books, and you can truly lose yourself in the time, space and smell of this half-century old book store...BUT! In my opinion, ridiculously overpriced books for what is obviously a low-maintenance store, where books are very likely donations or gotten at very low prices over the years. I love visiting or frequenting stores like these when I visit or move to a new town, and usually, what's so endearing about them is that the books are old, genuine, lovingly worn, and *inexpensive*.
That last one is NOT the case here.
These books sell for at least half, if not 90-100% of their original "retail" price, even though they've clearly passed through at least one or two hands. These aren't some "limited edition" books either, mind you, but the same caliber of books you could find at a thrift store or a garage sale. The owner herself is quoted in a local Madison article to say that she doesn't "chase the rare, once-in-a-lifetime volumes that become the obsession of many used-book dealers and customers".
So, I really don't understand why they run this store like this; I was expecting that the profits from the books we bought were going towards some good charity or organization, but nope, there's no mention of that anywhere on their website or in the store. They're just expensive because they can be, and none is the wiser.
I might stop in again to browse, but I'm really disappointed by how the store financially takes advantage of its image and placement.
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