Old Strathcona Books

I used to stop in at Old Strathcona books when I still lived in Leduc and drove into the city on weekends to hang out with friends on Whyte Ave. It has been a few years and I had some time to kill today so I stopped in for my first visit in awhile and it was nice to see that things have not changed that much.
I like that this place has found a way to be clean and well organized while at the same time preserving the look and feel of an oldschool book store. Unlike Wee Book Inn they seem to take in books that are more then a few years old but the majority of them still looked to be in decent shape. They also have a broader range in categories including crafting and relationships which is one of the benefits to being more lenient about the books you accept.
There are a few points of their trade in policy that are a little bizarre to me however. I watched two staff members take a ladies trade ins over to the shelf to «make sure they don’t have it already» but there were several places in the store I noticed titles with two or three copies sitting there on the shelf. Is there exceptions to the rule if the book is a best seller or from a certain category and if so why isn’t this explained on the sign? Perhaps I suppose that the extra copies could be the biproduct of staff not looking hard enough before accepting books but then should they not be removed and held back until the first copy sells to preserve the feeling of consistency in their policies?
In either case I still recommend this store as a must see during a visit to Whyte. It is a great way to avoid paying retail, support small business, and find some really exotic lesser known titles.

Whereas WeeBookInn seems to be more concerned with books from the past few years, this used bookstore has lots of stock going back quite a ways — which is great for book hunters. The only problem I have is their book buying policy. I went in with a bag o’ books to sell and was told that they only buy books during certain hours. Huh?!? I can’t imagine other used stores having set hours of when they purchase inventory to re-​stock their shelves. Anyway, I asked what the hours were and was told that on that day, they stopped buying books at 3 o’clock. I looked at my watch — it was 3:20. I looked around the empty store and there was no other customers; just me and the two employees standing behind the counter, doing nothing. I asked if they were serious and apparently they were — no chance of them looking outside their posted hours. I could see it as an issue if I was hours later… well, actually I can’t (just can’t get my head around the fact that they only buy at certain points in the day)…or if the store was busy or they were understaffed, but c’mon. I was the only person in the place. There were twice as many store employees as customers! That’s just bad customer service on their part.

This bookstore is very well organized and priced well. They have an excellent selection of books, especially in non-​fiction. I was really surprised. The only thing I didn’t like was the store closing on Sunday and Monday, but not a huge deal. Other than that, I would definitely recommend people checking this place out as I’m sure you will find what your looking for.

Old Strathcona Books provides bookworms with a great option to other bookstores on Whyte. They buy and sell good-​quality used books, and have a fantastic selection. I went here to sell some books today, and although I didn’t get much for two of them ($ 5), it wasn’t bad. They buy books Mon-​Fri until 3pm, and Sat until 1pm (closed Sundays).
I browsed through the shop and was impressed with all the subjects they carry. It’s a pretty large bookstore, although it doesn’t really look like it from outside. Despite its size, it still has that old book-​shop feel. The classical music they play throughout the store most likely adds to this feeling.
Among the subjects they carry, there’s general and contemporary fiction, women’s studies, politics, horror, crime, erotica, Shakespeare, and Canadian literature, just to name a few. There are two separate rooms with even more books, one with philosophy and religion, the other has biographies (which are also currently 25% off).
I was tempted to buy a couple new books today, but that would have been counter-​productive to me trying to get rid of some of my books (hence the selling). Still, there were some great picks. I saw an old cartoon book by Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons); it was fun browsing the shelves and seeing what other old treasures they had. I also flipped through this cool book on weird superstitions, which was pretty amusing. Did you know it’s bad luck to sing Christmas carols during any other time of year besides Christmas, and that it’s bad luck to throw away a belt? You learn so much from books.
There is also a glass case of rare books. You know, the really old and valuable leather-​bound ones! They also have a really good kids’ section, with books for kids of every age, including classic books. And since it’s Halloween, they have little jars placed around the store on shelves, with words like «eye of newt» and «snake tongue» on them. It’s cute and funny at the same time.