Giant Book Sale - Columbia, SC Review

My sister and I spent the day together.  We had lunch at Wild Wing Café and then went out shopping for a while.  I saw a large sign on the storefront of what used to be a Goody's Department store.  It said Giant Book Sale.  I am an avid bookworm and collector of books.  I try to keep at least one extra book on hand so that as I finish one I can go into the next.  Well, we went in and it was just as I expected.  A discount bookstore-nothing fancy but then again, for the price of the books I wouldn't want fancy.  Simple is good and this layout probably allows for low overhead and cheaper prices.

The company comes in and sets up a store for several months in a building that has open retail space.  The Goody's building was a bit too big for the store as there was a lot of unused floor space.  But it was my guess that the company chose this store because it was in a major strip mall near one of our larger malls. 

Before I tell you what I found let me tell you what wasn't there:

• No shelves
• No aisles
• No displays
• No signs
• No departments

Along the wall were boxes upon boxes labeled Kudzu.  These boxes were stacked 7 and 8 feet high and housed all of the "unshelved" books.  There were tables galore and books stacked up by titles.  As I scanned the first table I began realizing that all the titles had similar themes.  My sister came across a box that was open but not yet unpacked and she noticed a stack of Jodi Picoult books.  I asked one of the workers where the Jodi Picoult or Danielle Steel books were and she said, "They aren't stacked by authors but rather themes."  Okay, I could deal with that.  So, it was possible to find some books in several areas.  Some of the themes:

• Sci-Fi and Fantasy
• Inspirational
• Romance
• Self-Help
• Instructional and Learning Aids
• Children
• Young Adult
• Computer
• Cookbooks and Weight Loss
• Books made into movies
• Books on tape

After gazing across many tables I familiarized myself with the themes and then the damage control began.  I was finding one good book after another.  "Ooh ooh look at this,"  " Oh, a Princess Di book, I don't think I have this one" and so my book buying binge began. 

My sister would locate a book, read the flyleaf and share it with me.  I was holding several and had to go get a basket. So many of the books were new to me and I thought to myself: "If I don't get it now I may not remember the title later."

I asked the lady how long they would be in Columbia because I could tell it was a makeshift store.  She said they would be here until at least Christmas and then depending on how the sales went they would either stay a while longer or move on to another location.  I also asked her if this was an independently run store and she said no.  She said that when the receipts are printed you would see a store number.  The books are the surplus books from larger bookstores or books that might not be selling good at retail price.

Giant Book Sale marks the books down approximately 80% off the publisher's retail price.  Another perk: You get an additional 15% off your ticket price if you are employed in an educational setting and this also included parents whom homeschool their children.  If the previous two perks aren't enough there is one more.  Since this store is in an old department store there are plenty of restrooms.  "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now!" 

To give you an idea of the wonderful savings and deals you can get at Giant Book Sale I am going to give you the list of all eight books I purchased at the low price of  $34.15 including tax.  I'll list the publisher's price and then the sale price. As I read them you will see them reappear in review format but that will be a ways down the road.

• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (hardback)--$26.95 for $5.99
• The Way We Were: Remembering Diana by Paul Burrell (hardback)--$25.95 for $5.00
• Two Little Girls: A Memoir Of Adoption by Theresa Reid (hardback)--$23.95 for $4.99
• The Stuff Of Life by Karen Karbo--$14.95 for $3.99
• The People's Princess by Larry King (hardback)--$19.96 for $3.99
• One Small Thing by Jessica Barksdale Inclan--$12.95 for $3.00
• The Christmas Hope by Donna VanLiere (hardback)--$14.99 for $2.97
• What She Left For Me by Tracie Peterson--$12.99 for $1.99

Does that sound like a really good deal?  I'm set for books for a while so hopefully this stack will get me thru the upcoming holidays.  If not, I'll go back out to Giant Book Sale again! 

Thought to ponder: A mind is like a parachute.  It's no good unless it's open.