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Category: Bookstores [Edit]
455 Pender Street W
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The great problem I have with reviewing MacLeod's is deciding how many stars to give it. Don't get me wrong, the place is a natural 5 star, but another 5 star review is the last thing in the world that MacLeod's needs.
One of the beauties of MacLeod's is the fact that its fans are incredible fans, while the store itself seems to drive away those who wouldn't enjoy it there. You have to definitely love books to get through the door! I'll bet more than one Indigo/Chapters book lover has been frightened away by the look of the windows alone: a mass of piled books and text pressed against the glass, looking like it's going to explode into the street.
The marketing techniques used in the store are classic - the vertical pile of books, and the horizontal pile of books (shelved). That's it.
The POS display: a pile of unpriced books.
Service is professional. They will give you guidance in terms of directions to the best section to get to; the rest is up to you. It's like libraries used to be: if you don't find what you're looking for, you'll find something better.
This is where the professors at UBC and SFU dump their books - their collections! Be respectful; this place - and its staff - are jewels.
MacLeod's is the definition of organized chaos. Yet despite my aversion of messy lifestyles I find myself oddly attracted to this bookstore. As an avid fan of all things Vancouver history I have found more gems here than all the other bookstores combined. And it is precisely the vast quantity of noteworthy titles that keep drawing me back. They have tourism pamphlets from the 1920s! They even had a turn of the century book with a large fold-out map of Stanley Park. I really wish I could've afforded the $200+ price tag.
God bless this mess.
MacLeod's is magic.
It may be crowded and chaotic, but it's also literary bliss. The people who work there know and breathe books, so when you're looking for that obscure first edition, or simply want to peruse an old zine, they will be more than happy to help. They also won't give you weird looks when you unearth a treasure you didn't know you were looking for.
Don't go in expecting Chapters. It's not as shiny, not nearly as Oprah-fied, but much more wonderful.
Do yourself a favour and stumble into book Narnia! Reading your newest find over a baguette and coffee at Finch's down the road is my idea of perfect day.
Books, books, books! I little fantastically untidy, but worth the experience. I found three editions of books I love all for low prices. If you love pouring over several titles to find what you want, this is the place.
Joining the five-star chorus in praise of MacLeod's.
Prices are reasonable. Owner Don and his staff are quite knowledgable. Prerequisite for visiting isn't money, but time.
This is one of those used bookstores to allow yourself to get lost in.
I visited MacLeod's Books on the suggestion of an antiquarian book collector friend. He got it right. The place is absolutely overflowing with books, and is worth the trip merely to soak in the sights and smells. Be sure to check out the basement for even more full-on bibliophilism.
Magical Mayhem
Everything said about MacLeod's is true. Vancouver's version of
Powell's of Portland, but much more organic in its chaos and with seeming disorder is the promise of treasure and surprise.
If print is your thing then this is the place to revel in its glory. This is not only a cavern to seek what you want or dont even know that you want, BUT a buyer of books as well. Dan the owner is most knowledgeable.
Beware of his dismissiveness towards common, book of the month titles. He has been fair in his pricing and quick in his judgement of
what you thought were treasures. I have culled my collection from Gregory Corso to Hunter S. Thompson to Avant Gard magazines have found its temporary home at MacLeod's.
MacLeod's is absolutely my favorite book store in the city.
For one thing it has some of the most interesting and rare editions of books in the city. MacLeod's is always known for going out of the way to find the talked about first editions and rare printings of books and whenever I've gone after something they either have it or know where I might find it.
But what I love is the way the place looks. Books stacked to the ceiling, everything is organized chaos and I'm always amazing the workers can find something if you ask. The whole place looks like the movie set of a wizard's castle or something and I love to take visitors here to bask in the view.
This is always my first stop when I'm looking for an older book. As the other reviews have pointed out, the general disarray can be either a blessing or a curse, depending on whether you're just browsing, or looking for something in particular. The staff is friendly, though I haven't yet asked for recommendations or tried to have them help me find something.
MacLeod's looks like a pack rat's library, not seen for 40 years. Walking into the store I feel like all that week's deliveries arrived at once. Repeated visits to MacLeod's make you realize the book-crammed shelves, stacks on the floor, and piled boxes are just how this store has evolved.
Bookshelves have been added to every nook of the store to display the increasing numbers of books. I've always wondered just how strong the floor here must be to support this massive weight. If you have moved recently, you will understand just how much a box of books weighs.
Antique and rare books are the specialty at MacLeod's, and prices are as varied as the store is haphazard. There are more of these rare books available that aren't in the store. Go with something specific or nothing in particular in mind--either way you'll love the quirks of the store.
Listed in: Vancouver randomness
MacLeod's is really the only bookstore left in Vancouver where you feel the passion of its owner along the shelves. Do not, by the way, miss the basement which, if anything, makes the main floor seem well organized. This said, however, one reviewer compared it to Powell's in Portland and this could be misleading for Powell's afficiandoes. I think some of Powell's washrooms are larger than Macleod's! The Vancouver bookstore is a very nice experience but Powell's it ain't!
MacLeod's is the type of used bookstore that I hope will always be there... but the neighbourhood is changing, shiny new businesses and condos are on the march, so I'm just going to support it while I still can. It's an organized jumble of used books and really old books that I can happily get lost in for an hour or so. They're pretty strong on history and fiction, and have lots of poetry, drama, and art books as well.
There are simply books everywhere in the shop - sitting on floor-to-ceiling shelves, and piled high in every aisle and passageway. It's a book shopping treasure hunt. I just want to give at least one book a good home on every visit, just to help out the cause.
Listed in: Books and Coffee
Whoa! Don't go inside if you suffer from any of the following conditions: obsessive compulsive disorder, claustrophobia, anal retentiveness, panic attacks, or general nerves.
Now I do like this store. But it's a bit overwhelming. It's like searching in your grandmother's attic, opening a wardrobe, and falling into another world. This is either a librarian's dream or nightmare. There are soooooo many books. So many! Very high population density of books.
But some of these books are homeless, they've been cast aside onto the floor. Stuffed in a dark corner, not to see the light of day for years to come. Some of the books get stepped on or kicked around. Some of them look hurt and malnourished. Some are stacked so precariously that a sneeze will send them flying.
I'm tempted to take all the books home and give them a good home. Make a nice spot on the shelf for them, clean them up, give them a proper read.
If I am in Vancouver BC which is every so often I am going to MacLeod's Books. It's just a great place to find something no one else is gonna have. Yes its sort of messy but thats part of the charm. No matter how many book scouts go through there you can still find something they missed because it is impossible to see it all no matter what. I've been there a bunch of times and I plan on being there a whole lot more.
(Writing on behalf of my lady who is shy about her English.)
Actually, my opinion first. The place is almost unbelievable ... more like an example of perfect set design for an enigmatic used bookstore than an actual enigmatic bookstore. Books piled high, everywhere, including on the floors.
My lady wishes something even somewhat approaching this place existed in San Francisco. She made me promise to take her back first thing tomorrow.
Such an amazing book store - you just get lost in the piles of books in there, but you can find some real hidden gems.
Perhaps my nature has been instilled by my education, but not reading occurs as borderline psychosis. I'm not talking overt crazy like carrying a bloody pick axe or eating human hair, or any hair really, but more like the subtle, subdued crazy, the not blinking often enough or holding a hug for too long. The former we accept, it's obvious, we see it coming. Now in the latter truly lies the crazy, who knows when these reduced blinkers will snap? All this is to say that I like books and I like used book stores. There are quite a few to choose from in this town, ask any wannabe bohemian on Main Street and you're bound to hear a favourite. Mine however remains firmly downtown on the intersection of Richards and Pender, MacLeod's Books. Now I must say that I advocate chaos in all its forms, order simply becomes dull quickly. For the chaotic and literary mind, this is the place to visit. The store is literally stacked with books in all corners, spanning innumerable subjects in multiple languages. Since the renovation there has been a semblance of rationality to the general layout, so much so that one may actually find their book without inquiry. Prior however, your fate was firmly in the hand of the staff that seems to have a preternatural understanding of where everything is. If you don't feel up for the hunt, just ask staff members, if it's there, they'll know. MacLeod's is a gem in this town and seems more suited for a city like Montreal, we're fortunate to have it and I whole-heatedly recommend it.
Also, it has that old book smell; I love that old book smell.
Bookophiles, this is your mecca. The comfort I feel stepping into this jungle of books on a rainy day with a hot beverage is incomparable. The smell of old books (some, REALLY old, vintage treasures!) is something that will forever remain in my nostrils and bring memories of cozying up on the couch with a good read before bed. MacLeod's appears to be bigger on the inside than on the out, creating a feel of stepping into some wonderland of words and memories. It's charm is in its disorganization, something we can all relate to at one point or another.
If Macleod's doesn't have it, it might not exist. Okay, that might be a slight overstatement, but this little store is packed, crammed, stuffed full of all kinds of books from vintage collectibles to books on the Buddha, the Beats, Yeats, Keats..you get it. They do a good job of keeping lots of good poetry and art books. But no matter what you are looking for, it is worth it to peer in here and find yourself immersed in the smell and creak of a real book lover's paradise.
chaotic and wonderful!!!
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