Books Inc

I love a bookstore. Whatever ails me, just walking into a bookstore soothes me right down. Books Inc is in fact a chain, but despite that it is small & personal.
I’m not so easy to please all the time. I have high standards. But w all my years coming here, I can’t give this location less than 5 stars.
If you’re looking for something obscure, there’s a good chance you’ll have to order it. The staff are always great w first trying to locate your book at another location, though. But if it turns out that you need to order it, it only takes a couple of days.
The cookbook section is pretty big, considering. Unless a title is sold out or been off the radar for a long time, you’ll find all the essentials here.
They gift wrap. They gift wrap! For free! There’s only a couple of options as far as types of gift wrapping to choose from, but who cares? FREE!
There’s free parking in the back, too. Along w a back entrance to go w it.
5 stars.

As an avid reader, I spend some time in bookstores. This is one of my favorite ones in SF (Green Apple is the other). The selection is good, the prices are reasonable, and the staff is one of the most knowledgable I have seen in the area.

It is nice to see small bookstores thriving amongst the onslaught of Amazon and ebooks.
What makes Books unique is their curated and edited selection of books: Whether fiction, non-​fiction, biographical, historical, or what have you Books has a really nice selection.
Case in point I bought a great pair of books on Billy Idol and Elvis Costello. They are phenomenal. I believe in supporting small local business… especially with amazing help.
This is one of them… buy some books from them!

Great bookstore with a good selection of books, blank journals, and other sundries/​gifts. The Children/​Young Adult section is excellent and the store staff all know their stuff. Don’t hesitate to talk books with them — they are friendly, knowledgable and will go out of their way to help you find the right book as a gift or a great read for yourself. They can also order a book for you if it’s not in stock. I don’t know what the other 1-​star reviews are about here. I’ve been shopping at this location for many years and never once encountered a problem.

Horrible experience!
I was reading some reviews that has 1 star comments (Susan A), and unfortunately I had very similar bad experience at Books Inc at Laurel Village.
No customer service, very rude, small selections on books, and no sale books.
I usually don’t hear good things about this book store from locals and local business but I went there because it’s near my work. I unfortunately have to agree with why people talk bad about the book store.
There were no staff around to ask for help where the books that I was looking for, so when I found a staff (the older lady), I asked some questions nicely, she said, «Can you see I am busy!» I was shocked by her rudeness (she obviously seems to have her own issues and very scary). Other staff were not much help at all. Even though I found some books that I was looking for I decided not to give my money to them. I went to other local book store near by on Clement St and I had much better experience and had books on sale for better price so I gave my money to them instead. I also bought other books on Amazon. As for busy working people like me, buy books online seems to be the easiest way with no trouble, like I had to hop around local book stores today.
I won’t recommend Books Inc at Laurel Village unless you have to go. If you decide to go there then expect no service or appreciation. I would be surprise if this book store would survive for long.

From the outside, this looks like a small bookstore. However, once you enter, the store is pretty deep and there is an upper level. This store is packed with books. I especially love their discounted cookbook section!
They also have a very good inventory of kids books.
Service was perfunctory.
In the digital age, you don’t have many opportunities to actually browse a bookstore. I love walking around and looking at books. They remind me of Stacys (rip).

i came here after going first to the Van Ness location (and having a great experience) and was greeted by a very surly woman. As I had gone to Van Ness looking for a book, which they were sold out of, the very friendly clerk called to the other stores and found it at the Laurel Village location. Wow, what a different experience between the two stores. While at Van Ness, I found the staff friendly and fun, I was scowled at when I asked for the book on hold and after purchasing it, wasn’t thanked for my business. While that may seem trivial to some, I am very particular about this. Having worked in retail, I know it is very important to let the customer know their business is appreciated. Especially nowadays when we can all very easily go online to Amazon I would think that the staff of Books Inc, would know that and treat their customers with more appreciation. While I would go back to the Van Ness location, the service I received at the Laurel Village location was enough to keep me from going back ever again,

I love smaller, local bookstores and this definitely fits that need! Warm and cozy atmosphere. Nice selection of books and friendly employees! If they don’t have the book you want, they make an effort to look and find it in another Books Inc. They want you to be satisfied! :)

medical book? none to my liking
auto mags? none on specific M3’s, GTI’s or G35s
sigh…
the place is clean however.
perhaps another time.

Catherine is the best. She helped me find a couple of children’s books based on a baby’s name. The wrapping paper is a great perk! I’ll be back!

Went back and still they sucked!!! The nice lady is not there today so I thought I just going to get some magazines. Stood there picking my selections and then I noticed this guy came up and bend over to pick up those magazine subscription application thing. There were a few already on the floor when I went in. Well he was mumbling something about me dropping these and don’t pick it up. Typical Asian thing to do, WTF? Sorry asshole but I happen to be there at the time you are looking for a scape goat to blame this shit on someone. Besides it’s your fucking job to do this and that is not even saying what a racist piece of shit you are. I just put all the mags back and left. Never going back there again!!!

Dare I admit that I stop in once a week to pick up a few gossip rags??? If that’s what I need to do to continue to support this fabulous book store, so be it! They carry, Hello! Hello? (They also have Vogue Oz, Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris, the list goes on. It’s basically magazine heaven.)
But I also stop in to see what’s new in the Style Section. It’s what I particularly love about this location because it is to die for!!! I have been able to invest in some of the most beautiful books… Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton… the collection continues to build, all thanks to Books Inc.
I love books and I love this store! The people who work here, love books. If this store were to ever close, I would be devastated. I find more refuge here than I do in the shoe department at Nordstrom and that is saying a lot. I can browse for hours and no one cares. If I want to special order or put something on hold or have something gift wrapped or simply talk books… done, done and done.
If I want to buy a mindless paperback on sale, I’ll go to Target or just download it on my Kindle. But that’s not the point, now is it?

Hooray for local bookstores that host readings! The space is quite small but it just makes the reading seem more intimate. They even let a well behaved dog snuggle on a lady’s lap during the reading :). A nice selection of books. Definitely check it out before hitting up Amazon!

I had a gift card and had not used it yet. I called in to see if they had a specific book i was looking for, and they did! As if that didn’t make me happy enough, they put it on hold for me and when I came in to pick it up was quick and they were super nice.

So I called them to see if they had a book in stock. The sales associate was very nice over the phone stating they have my book but had trouble locating it, so she took down my name and number and said she’d call me back. She actually called me back rather quickly. Great phone service.
Now for the store service. When I went to the back of the store to retrieve my held book, I was greeted by a sales associate that didn’t seem to happy. I get it. It probably wasn’t her day. But when I asked for my book and I said I wanted to look at it beforehand, it seemed like an inconvenience. She ended up flopping my book on the counter as if it was a big hassle. Geez! Ok I get it. Wrong sales associate to get. (Older lady, slightly verging, glasses.) Now I see why she never smiles and seemed so cranky. I don’t want to bother getting her again.
I’ve done customer service before so just pretend, I mean geez, we’ve all pretended like something you don’t.

Super cute and cozy bookstore!
I killed some time here before my hair appointment, and I was not disappointed. I loved their little kids corner, and people can actually write their own little reviews/​summaries that get posted underneath the books!

Before I got into Amazon’s Kindle, I came here quite often to get books. My feelings of this place are mixed. There is a good selection of magazines and quite a good collection of new non-​fiction books (my primary reading genre after architecture/​travel books). Often, however, the store has poor ventilation and the place is very hot and stuffy, which makes it uncomfortable to be in there for extended periods of time.
Some additional points:
1) Organization is somewhat random-​when you have a specific book in mind talk to staff
2) Staff is hit-​and-​miss. Some very apathetic, some overly-​enthusiastic and some just «out there»
3) Most books sell at list price, if you can wait get it on Amazon
4) With the «book club» you buy 10 books and get the average of those 10 off for your 11^th purchase. (This is especially rewarding for me since I buy mainly hardcover)
5) Space is small-​when kids are in their kids section and being noisy and irritating it tends to reverberate in the entire space.

The first perk I notice upon walking into Laurel’s Books Inc is: WOW. So much bigger than the Castro location. (= more books!)
Wonderful selection towards the rear of the store, especially with the local flavor, children’s books, and graphic novels (they have Drawn & Quarterly!).
Magazine rack does not contain too much variety.
But, as there is a second floor… full of more books than I can ever dream of.
Quite a few comfy chairs up there to sit and read the random books propped up on the shelf adjacent the chairs.
Be sure to read the bulletin board. (on the second floor)

I love the selection of this book store but hate being inside it. It is like walking into a rowdy kindergarten class. Children, stroller, moms, pregnant women pushing strollers with a kid or two in tow, talking loudly on their cell phones… INSIDE a book store? Where does the sense of entitlement come from? It baffles me. The staff seems friendly but I wish they would control the unruly crowds of toddlers and their oblivious parents to allow a more tranquil book shopping experience.
This place makes me want to run home to my computer and log onto Amazon…

Very fitting that these guys took over A Clean Well-​Lighted Place for Books, because that’s exactly what this place is. Disclaimer: I never actually went to ACWLPFB, so forgive me for any unjust comparisons to said bookstore’s legendary greatness. In fact I didn’t even know Books Inc was a chain before now (enlightened by Unilocal as usual).
Unlike the musty-​attic charm of Green Apple, the polished, modern look here does an amazing job of imitating a Barnes and Noble (albeit far smaller). The little nook upstairs still has the rag-​tag neighborhood-​place vibe, though. I was quite impressed with the selection for such a small place, though I’m sure they’re lacking a lot of the specialty books you can find buried in the corner at Green Apple. And yes, I keep getting fooled into thinking the stuffed dogs here are real.
Now I’ll have to check out the more convenient (to me) Castro location. And dare I go review the former ACWLPFB location without the ability to compare it to the old days?