On a recent trip back to my hometown of Philadelphia, I was sad to see that the city’s literary landscape had greatly diminished since my wonderfully drunken college years. The City of Brotherly Love has a lack of good independent bookstores, and it’s not alone. In a bad economy, arts and culture always seem like the first things to go, and one can hardly blame patrons who might be a little more worried about that next mortgage payment than the next gently used paperback. That’s why Ukazoo Books’ recent opening in Toledo has me really excited and hopeful about the future of our literary community.

When I first made Toledo my home in 2003, Thackeray’s Books was still in full swing. Coming from a much larger city I have to admit I was less than impressed. Looking at things now, I wish we could have that store back — and every other bookstore that had to close its doors here over the last years. I’ll admit I searched through Leo’s, Frogtown, A Novel Idea, Fireside and everywhere in between, rarely finding what I was looking for, but we were a better community for having those used bookstores.

Still, when I heard about the opening of Ukazoo Books, I didn’t really expect to find much that would interest me. Walking into the store a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised. What I found were rows and rows of wonderful used books with a staff that was ready and waiting to answer any questions I might have. All of this at affordable prices — the average cost of a paperback book hovers around $3.50.

Now anyone who knows me at all knows that I mostly read poetry and most of that comes from the 20th century’s American underground. Yes, Ukazoo has poetry, but it’s largely academic, though I did manage to find some Jim Carroll. What got me about Ukazoo was its overflowing selection of fiction. From Russell Banks to John Kennedy Toole to Michael Chabon, I was more than surprised — I was impressed. I forgot my wallet to first time I was there, but the manager was kind enough to hold my books for me and I went back to the next day and came out with a bag so big I could hardly carry it out. The good news is that I wasn’t the only one — people were lined up, hungry for words. The night I made my purchases, there also happened to be a poetry reading in progress.

The reading, in support of the publication The

Mill, featured a number of Toledo’s literary mainstays, as

well as a number of young writers I had never seen before. There was energy, there was passion, there was someplace for Toledo’s writers to stretch their wings.

Better still, it looks like this series is set to continue there with the next taking place on March 16.

Ukazoo Books is located at 830 N. Westwood Ave., between UT and the Scott Park Campus. For more information, call (419) 972-1986 or visit the Ukazoo Books Facebook page.

Until next time … keep your pencil sharp.

John Dorsey resides in Toledo’s Old West End. His work is widely published and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

Tags: Glass CIty Muse, John Dorsey, Poetry, Ukazoo Books

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2012 at 1:35 pm and is filed under Glass City Muse, Poetry, Star.
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The recently opened Ukazoo Books offers customers a big-box atmosphere without the steep prices, store employees say.

“It’s a mesh between your used bookstore and your big box store. We’ve got the pricing of used, but we look like a big box store,” said General Manager Edward Whitfill.

The used bookstore chain was started by brothers Jack and Seth Revelle. The Revelles began buying and selling used books online before starting their first retail location in Towson, Md., Whitfill said. Ukazoo now has four locations and is looking to open another later this year. The other locations are in Southgate, Mich., and Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

The Revelles chose their Toledo location, 830 N. Westwood Road, partially because they own PRO Quo Books, another bookselling business, in the back of the building. Borders’ closing also led the brothers to give Toledo another large bookstore, Whitfill said.

General Manager Edward Whitfill, left, and store manager Pat Borden.

Pat Borden, a former Borders employee, will manage the Toledo store. He doesn’t foresee Ukazoo going the way of Borders.

“There was a company that was in love with books, but they weren’t in love with selling,” Borden said, adding that Ukazoo is in love with both.

At 13,000 square feet, Ukazoo is a little smaller than Borders, but offers customers some new options like selling back their books. Ukazoo employees cross-check the books with a software system to determine how much patrons receive for them, Whitfill said. Ukazoo, which created 16 new jobs in Toledo, relies heavily on its software and may be looking for a software engineer in the future, he added.

“That’s one of the best parts of my job; there’s nothing like creating jobs,” Whitfill said.

Whitfill is also responsible for selecting the new books sold at Ukazoo. He favors regional best-sellers and checks out independent bookstores to see their selection, he said.

He makes sure he is very careful in choosing new books.

“We can’t afford to put the wrong book on the shelf,” he said.

For the most part, however, Ukazoo stocks used books, mostly priced below $6, Whitfill said.

The store also has a buy three, get one free promotion.

Wi-Fi and free coffee are some of the other perks offered. Kids can check out the large children’s section complete with a tunnel, birdhouses and a tree built by employees.

“You see the look on the kids’ faces and they’re just mesmerized,” Borden said.

Feedback from adult customers has also been great so far and many people have come back with friends, Borden and Whitfill said.

Part of what customers like is that Ukazoo doesn’t fit the stereotype of a typical used bookstore.

“It doesn’t smell like a used bookstore,” Whitfill joked.

“If you didn’t know it was a used bookstore, you’d think it was brand new,” Borden said.

People do bring in books that are too damaged or may not be sellable. In those cases, Ukazoo recycles the books.

The Toledo location plans to give back in another way by working with Reach Out and Read of Northwest Ohio, a children’s literacy program of the University of Toledo Department of Pediatrics.

Despite the rising popularity of digital readers like Kindles and NOOKs, Borden and Whitfill aren’t worried about business.

Borden said physical books will always have a place in society.

“What do you do at the beach? Do you really sit in the sand with [a digital reader]? Do you take it by the pool?” he asked.

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, visit www.ukazoo.com or facebook.com/UkazooToledo.

Tags: Jack and Seth Revelle, Ukazoo Books

This entry was posted on Friday, February 17th, 2012 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Books, Retail, Toledo Business Link.
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