When I first moved to the Niagara region over eight years ago, one of the things I was most excited about was being close to The Book Depot. This book warehouse was a ten minute drive from my home and I had heard that it was a great place to purchase new books at bargain prices. A couple of years later when the store was undergoing some renovations they renamed it Book Outlet - same great bargain prices.
The Book Outlet is my favourite bookstore in the Niagara region. My first visit was overwhelming. When I entered the large warehouse, I vacillated between not being able to breathe at all to hyperventilating. Upon entering, there are shopping carts for your shopping convenience. Yes, real, honest to goodness shopping carts. What reader doesn't dream about having shopping carts at bookstores. Genius! It took me a while to calm myself down to the point where I could give myself permission to take as much time as I needed to browse the shelves and look at all the books I wanted.
It became easier each visit to settle into the pace it would take to look at the different sections. There are also two things that often happen. One, I have to calculate how much my purchases would have been had I gone to an Indigo/Chapters or bought them online from Amazon. Second, there is disappointment, grieving and mentally kicking myself when I see a book (or books) at the Outlet that I just purchased full price.
The Book Outlet shut down for two weeks this July to undergo more changes. I visited last week for the first time since the renos and was pleasantly surprised that it actually got better.
Now, when you walk in, it is more like entering a regular bookstore. Sure, it's in a large warehouse, but the books are displayed better than they used to be. Plus, they still have
all the great spots to sit and enjoy some reading. The entrance with the arch of books is now the entrance to the kids nook. They have a large selection of shirts and book items and their check out is quite lovely.
Of course, the best thing is still brand new books at bargain prices. They often have deals as well and then there is THE BOX SALE. Did you just hear angels singing? Because it is amazing. I have gone to four box sales over the years. Over 3-4 days you can go and fill a box for less than $30. They open their back warehouse which is HUGE and they have TONS of books to sift through. It comes in handy that I used to work in a packaging factory because I can fit a lot of books in one of those boxes. It usually ends up costing me less than $1 per book. Great deal!
This year, they lowered the price to $25 since the boxes were a bit smaller. I still managed to get 23 books inside that box and now there is so much reading ahead of me! The Box Sales are fantastic and in between those, there is always the store itself which is worth just going to be near so many books.
The other amazing thing is that if you don't live in the Niagara area, you can still enjoy the incredible deals and the incredible books. Their online store is wonderful with free shipping if you spend a minimum amount of money and you can make wishlists AND they will notify you if a book you want becomes available. So much book goodness here! They have a Canadian and US website if you care to check out this book adventure.
For my Canadian friends: https://bookoutlet.ca/
For my US friends: https://bookoutlet.com
@bookoutletstore
@bookoutlet
i wanna go! :-) I visit them online and order frequently but I want to go in person! Thanks for sharing.