Best Collectible Bookstore 2011 | Book Gallery | Shopping & Services | Phoenix
Navigation
Support Us
Search

Best Collectible Bookstore

Book Gallery

Book Gallery owner Mike Riley is picky about the books that go on his shelves. While this doesn't bode well for people trying to sell him common paperbacks, it's a very good thing for his bibliophile customers, who don't have to dig through a bunch of secondhand Danielle Steele romance novels to find that rare first edition of John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage. Riley's inventory also boasts titles like Mr. Citizen by Harry S. Truman (signed by the former president himself), The Lord of the Rings trilogy (first U.K. editions with the original dustjackets), and a first edition of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. These are just a few examples of the thousands of rare, antique, and collectible books at the Book Gallery. There are plenty of affordable reads, too, but the magic of Book Gallery is that it's one of the few places to find some truly rare books — not just rare for Arizona, but the entire world.

Best Magazine Rack

Bookmans Entertainment Exchange

We admit it. We've got a serious magazine addiction. Why, just the other night, we picked up the latest copies of Bazaar, Country Living, and Martha Stewart Living. And it cost us next to nothing. No, we weren't pilfering in the dentist's office; we were at Bookmans. Better known for used books, movies, and music, the magazine rack at the North Phoenix outpost of this Arizona-based chain is just divine, which is good since we haven't had a magazine fix since Borders packed up and moved out. This is even better, because not only do the mags cost next to nothing, you just might run across a copy of a periodical you missed. Or a whole set of them. In fact, we're wishing we'd grabbed that stack of back issues of the now-defunct ReadyMade magazine. Long after the magazine goes the way of the dinosaur, we bet Bookmans will be there to keep us in reading material. As for those copies of ReadyMade? Maybe they're still there. We'll be right back.

Best Comic Book Shop

Ash Avenue Comics

Pop quiz, comic geek: What do fossil records and comic shops have in common? Answer: Both are a window into a time and place that have long since passed. The glory days of comic stores with their boxes jammed full of meticulously plastic-sleeved, cardboard-backed wonders may be gone, but you can relive the memories of them at Ash Avenue Comics. In this shop, spandex-clad superheroes continue their eternal quests to defeat the forces of evil (also in spandex) 24 pages at a time. Just be prepared to wait for the shop to open. There are posted hours, mind you, but they're a bit more like guidelines than hard-and-fast hours of operation.

Best Porn Rentals for Regular Folks

Fascinations

Porn. Everyone watches it. Young, old, rich, poor. Your priest. Your rabbi. Your County Attorney. Your grandma. Okay, maybe not Grandma, but Grandpa sure does. That's how he stays married to Grandma. That and Jack Daniel's.Free porn on the Internet makes things so much easier, so civilized. But if you want to watch Tera Patrick do the nasty for more than three minutes at a time, you still have to rent the occasional DVD. Free Internet porn is free for a reason, you see. That's why Fascinations is around. The adult store is well lit, scrupulously clean, and hires normal, nonchalant salespeople who can suggest the best bondage flick as if they were selling you a pair of sneakers. This is not to mention the endless supply of sex toys, lingerie, and weird novelties that we can't even begin to describe in these pages for the sake of, ahem, decency.So if you're a regular Joe or Jane, and are jonesing to rent the latest in fetish vids, or are hard up on a Saturday night and need some DVD assistance scratching that hard-to-reach spot, Fascinations is the place for you. And for your grandpa. Just don't let Grandma know.

Best Vinyl

Revolver Records

Vinyl nerds, music connoisseurs, and anyone who yearns for a fresh stack of 12-inch platters full of their favorite tunes have made this downtown record shop a local landmark. Collectors think of Revolver as the best place to score inexpensive upgrades of titles they already own, as well as a great place to fill out their collections with elusive musical prizes. Penny-pinching music fans who think they might want to sample Laura Branigan (but don't want to pay eBay prices) love Revolver, where "Gloria" can be theirs for a buck (thanks to Revolver's stacked-to-the-ceiling back room, where one-buck bargains are the order of the day, every day). Can't think of the name of that song you danced to at your junior prom? The counter help here is unusually happy to assist you in tracking down that elusive song hit from your past. Our last visit netted a still-sealed Boyce and Hart LP, a dead-mint copy of Rachel Faro's ultra-rare third album, and a bootleg CD of some of Sinatra's V-Disc recordings. The well-organized stacks are augmented daily, and an embarrassment of riches awaits anyone in search of old jazz wax for less than $10 a pop.

Best CD Store

Bookmans Entertainment Exchange

The Bookmans location in Mesa has the larger CD stock of the two Bookmans stores in the Valley, but it's not just the size that makes the Mesa location stand out — it's the selection. Of the thousands of used CDs that find their way onto Bookmans' shelves every year, about 30 percent are things you won't be able to buy new at say, Best Buy or Target — such as soundtracks for '80s movies like Less Than Zero, early Modest Mouse CDs on indie labels, and obscure reggae box set collections. The other 70 percent of Bookmans' CDs are Top 40, rock, and indie albums selling for a fraction of the price they'd cost new. There's also plenty of local music in stock — CDs by Jimmy Eat World, Gin Blossoms, What Laura Says, Kongos, and many more Valley rockers line the shelves, at prices as low as $5 a CD. Best of all, you don't need to drop a wad of cash to walk out with a stack of music — Bookmans' trade rates are extremely fair.

Best Skateboard Shop

Cowtown

Local skate shops have come and gone over the years — except for indie Cowtown. The "family"-owned and -operated skate shop had been slangin' the best boards and gear to Phoenix skate rats since 1996 (that's three years before the first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater video game). The owners credit their success to outstanding customer service and knowledge of the industry — two things that are hard to come by these days, especially in the skateboard world (i.e., that shop in the mall). We love Cowtown for its extensive line of the latest and greatest skate shoes, the best shirts, and the biggest selection of boards in the Valley. If you're lucky, you might even stumble upon a few rare collectible decks (we recently scored a Toy Machine Black Worm of Death). Be sure to look out for newest gear from local skate companies like Old Man Army and AZPX, and don't miss the annual shop sponsored contest, The PHX AM.

Best Bike Shop

Bike Barn

Most of us are not what are known as "mountain bikers" or "road warriors" — or anything close. We prefer, every so often, to ride a few gentle miles to a local coffeehouse or bookstore or, on (rare) occasion, get some real exercise and try to take the edge off the guilt we feel after eating like idiots. But our rinky-dink bicycle needs love and attention just like those fancy-pants ones, and we have had occasion to frequent many a shop around the Valley over the years. Our favorite? This venerable homegrown spot just north of East Indian School Road. What makes this joint stick out is the customer service — so sincere and helpful that it borders on a counseling session. A woman named Mary (she's the manager) recently figured out just how much we should spend on a new bike, and it was far less than what we had reckoned (or budgeted for). No one at this place will take you for a ride! They'll just send you home with a sweet one.

Best Place to Get Your Bike Fixed

The Garage Bike Shop

If you are looking for a big showroom with lots of new bikes, helmets, and wheels, this is not the place for you. But if you need a solid, honest wrench to fix up your clunker or tune up your speed machine, go see Rene at the Garage. A mechanic for 20-plus years, this guy is living his dream with his shop tucked away in El Mercado Plaza, in the center of Guadalupe. He does offer a few bikes on consignment, but his shop mainly is just as the name states: a garage. If he can't fix it or get it fixed for you, chances are, it can't be fixed at all.

Best Bike Shop for Hard-to-Find Parts

Try Me Bicycle Shop

Tucked on the western edge of the Foothill Acres neighborhood in North Phoenix, Try Me Bicycle Shop is not exactly where one thinks to go for that rare part to get the old Schwinn or Raleigh up and running again. But this shop has been in business for nearly 40 years and has been collecting the odd part for every type of bike over that time. The showroom is filled with family-friendly cruiser and comfort bikes — nothing super-high- end here. It's that backroom inventory of old and hard-to-find parts that makes this place truly special.

Best Of Phoenix®

Best Of

Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our terms of use, our cookies policy, and our privacy policy The Phoenix New Times may earn a portion of sales from products & services purchased through links on our site from our affiliate partners. ©2024 Phoenix New Times, LLC. All rights reserved.
Do Not Sell or Share My Information
Powered By Foundation