The stores are starting to open up and I had some time this weekend so I thought I’d take a chance and see if I could go to Elliott Bay Book Company. Since the Barnes and Noble in downtown Seattle closed earlier this year (before the quarantine), Elliott Bay Book Company is kind of the nearest bookstore to me. There’s a bookstore in Queen Anne, but it’s at the top of the hill, which is quite a hike. There are some other bookstores in Seattle but they are smaller. Plus, Elliott Bay Book Company in Capitol Hill is not too far from me and when it’s nice out, I don’t mind walking.
The website said the bookstore was open. You could either make an appointment to go into the store and shop or you could show up and wait and try to walk in. There were no appointments left for the weekend so I decided to just show up and hopefully, there wouldn’t be a long line or I wouldn’t have to wait very long to get in.
I got to the store around 12:45 and had to wait about 20 minutes before I could go in. The store was basically doing one person out, one person in and they were limiting customers to 10 at a time. We were required to sanitize our hands when we walked in and/or wear gloves. We were also limited to a browsing time of 30 minutes.
Since I was limited as to time, I had to make a plan. So, I made a list of books that I would be open to buying if they were on the shelf. I also knew that I wanted to check out any display of best-selling books and any display of recommended books. I also knew that I would check out any of the tables set up in the front of the store because books on tables are the best. I knew that, if I only had time for a few things, I for sure wanted to browse the magazine section, fiction section, romance section, and cookbook section.
It was very weird shopping in the bookstore. I felt like I was the only person in the store and I could almost hear my footsteps echoing on the hardwood floors. I definitely wish that I had more time to shop. I did leave at around the 25-minute mark after I had purchased my finds so I’m not sure if they were actually keeping track of everyone’s time spent in the store or if it was more of an honor system. As I was leaving, I was pleasantly surprised to see all the people in line waiting to shop. There were not a whole lot but I was happy to see customers supporting the store.
I don’t know how long these limited shopping experiences are going to last but I miss the bookstore. I miss just walking around and browsing and seeing books in their physical form rather than looking at them online. I’d like to pick books up and see how thick they are see what the type is and how big the font is in the book. I also like to maybe read the first couple of pages to see if I like the authors writing.
I get so many ideas for books when I browse in person because if there is a table or a display with best-selling books I can quickly glance through everything and see if anything catches my eye. Sometimes I get overwhelmed online and I don’t know where to look. To me, browsing in person is so much easier.
It was a fun adventure, going to the bookstore again.
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