& location king north big book store hours about us blog john k. king used & rare books home preview of our store contact & location king north big book store hours about us blog john k. king used & rare books michigan s largest used and rare bookstore home michigan s largest used and rare bookstore . established in 1965 in downtown detroit and has had 4 stories of browsable books . john k. king used & rare books home preview of our store contact & location king north big book store hours about us blog michigan s largest used and rare bookstore navigating our store a view of the 2nd floor interior . john k. king used & rare books is a bookstore out of its time . the main store stock as well as that of our branches in ferndale and wsu are completely uncomputerized collections that are organized by a team of energetic and helpful staff members into a multitude of topics and sub topics . each floor has a manager that is responsible for knowledge and maintenance of the categories held there . this means we can t do computer searches and tell you if we have a title . however we find this does create a unique book shopping experience that encourages getting lost in the aisles . don t worry we ll gently push you out at closing time.the store itself is comprised of four navigable floors with various topics on each . we have directories and maps that we pass out freely upon entry that specify the floor and aisle of many of our topics . in addition the books are mostly arranged alphabetically by the author within topics with a few exceptions . finally our knowledgable staff are identifiable by our branded aprons and can be depended on to help you locate whatever it is you re searching for.you can see a preview of our wall to wall book experience by checking out the preview of our store.history of the bookstore the facade of 901 w. lafayette . our flagship store . john k. king began his book trading back in 1965 as a teenager and has continually advanced in the trade ever since . he has owned stores before the current location including a spot in the michigan theatre building that now serves as an ornate parking structure in downtown detroit . the current location was the former advance glove factory hence the giant glove painted on the exterior of the building . the factory ceased operations in the 1970s and sat vacant until mr. king purchased it and finally moved over his operation in 1983 . then he went on to purchased the former otis elevator company building on the same block to expand the parking lot and provide office space for the bookstore . since then mr. king has stubbornly been dragged into the digital age ever so subtly with computerizing the rare book holdings for purchase online and allowing the current social media and website presence you can now take advantage of.you can read a more detailed account of john king s career and the buildings the store occupies on our about us page.the rare book link naturally what is a rare and valuable book varies from person to person but the ones we ve deemed to be of a highly collectable sort are kept apart from the main browsable collection . if you can imagine john king was selling these books all over the country via a printed catalog before he was coaxed into making an admittedly musty looking website catalog . the rare book holdings are the only titles that are fully cataloged and searchable online . at rarebooklink.com the detailed description of all rare items can be read and inquires for purchasing them can be addressed to kingbooks aol.com . additionally if you re planning to visit the main store in person we encourage you to visit the listings at rarebooklink to see what we have in stock . should you be interested in purchasing anything we can have it brought to the store for you to examine.if you re searching for an item that could be in our main store stock you can always contact us via email a written letter or postcard a process you can find out more about on our contact page . home preview of our store contact & location king north big book store hours about us blog john k. king used & rare books michigan s largest bookstore with over one million used and rare books . operating since 1965 located in in downtown detroit . that look you give when someone tells you they don t like to read . good morning detroit & happy nationalpoetryday super cool thing we re being featured in a book by bob eckstein coming out october 4 called footnotes from the world s greatest bookstores true tales and lost moments from book buyers booksellers and book lovers it has beautiful paintings of all the bookstores featured plus lots of bookstore history go to www.penguinrandomhouse.com books 253404 footnotes from the worlds greatest bookstores by bob eckstein foreword by garrison keillor 9780553459272 for more info happy bannedbooksweek a rainy day in detroit perfect for bookstore exploration and curling up with a good read afterward our city undecided on how you feel about hillaryclinton we have information it is clear that the books owned the shop rather than the other way about . everywhere they had run wild and taken possession of their habitat breeding and multiplying and clearly lacking any strong hand to keep them down . agatha christie it s the wizarding world s favorite muggle born heroine hermione granger s birthday harrypotter yerawizardharry the detroitfreepress wrote an article about big bookstore closing . full article http www.freep.com story news columnists john carlisle 2016 09 18 oldest bookstore in detroit closing 90353048 readmore instagram johnkingbooksdetroit johnkingbooks just posted a photo detroit michigan https t.co 3j4oqyn8yd about 49 minutes ago that look you give when someone tells you they don t like to read . john king used & rare books https t.co qwvaenbwzs about a day ago just posted a photo detroit michigan https t.co 4pduinhmrd about 2 days ago just posted a photo detroit michigan https t.co rns5veya9h about 2 days 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