Antigone Books — Attraction in Tucson

I visited this shop for the first time today, my initial impression was less than stellar. Entering, I noticed three employees. One was with another customer, which I don’t fault her doing the bare minimum her job requires in this moment, I suppose. I waved as I walked in, and a cute, short employee with glasses waved back while chatting with another employee who wasn’t assisting anyone at that moment.

From their body language, it seemed their conversation was work-related. In the time it to me to move from the door to the counter, the employee with glasses headed to the back of the store, appearing busy with a task. I don’t blame her for that; at least she greeted me with a friendly hello. My concern arose when the employee assisting the other customer finished her conversation along with the remaining employee, sat down to chat amongst themselves. I looked up at the counter several times, although they both made eye contact with me, they continued their conversation without offering any assistance.

As a general rule, I don’t interrupt people when they’re speaking. Etiquette means behaving a bit better than is absolutely essential. It doesn’t render you defenceless; if it did, even I wouldn’t subscribe to it. But rudeness in retaliation for rudeness just doubles the rudeness in the world.

I continued browsing. A tall blonde woman came from the back and asked if I was finding everything alright. I assume she’s the owner or manager from her professionalism and demeanour. I mentioned that she was the first person to ask me At that point, the conversation at the counter abruptly ceased, one of the employees beelines to us and attempt to take over assisting me from her manager.

It’s puzzling why this assistance didn’t come sooner. It’s not hard to speculate—maybe it was due to my being male, Black, presenting cis-gendered or heterosexual or a combination of all of the above. Sadly, these factors still sometimes hinder service, even though they shouldn’t. I found it ironic, given the store's progressive selection of titles; you’d think their service would align with virtues they signal.

I may be overthinking this situation entirely and a Hanlon's Razor is at play here, "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect, ignorance, or incompetence." Perhaps those two employees simply don’t care, for reasons known only to them.

The owner/manager did take ownership of the situation, which I appreciate—and it’s probably the only reason this rating isn’t lower. Okay...maybe the woman with the glasses made an impression on me as well. 13/10 Adorbz

I provided the manager with a list of titles I was looking for. However, just as she began to assist me, the two employees I mentioned earlier became distracted by a dog that entered the shop, making me feel like an afterthought. I wish they had shown as much enthusiasm for me as a new customer as they did for Pretzel, the dog. We're literally the same colour!

The manager did help me find three of the titles I was looking for, and I believe she addressed her employees privately regarding their lacklustre service. Unfortunately, I was unable to hear that conversation.

Ultimately, I didn’t purchase the books because my current project requires used books only. I returned them to their respective spots on the shelves before leaving because "proper home training" as Mom says.

On a positive note, the shop is well-organized and offers a variety of novelties beyond books. I was particularly amused by their selection of journals and planners. I had been looking for a password book for a client about a year ago, and they carry them in various sizes, colors, and patterns. I will likely return for some of these items in the future.

I hope that before my next visit, there will be some coaching or retraining for the staff on the basics of customer service and retail. Maybe I should bring my Shiba Inu puppy, Jihi, next time to see if that can finesse me some service at Antigone Books. Oh, she's black too, by the way. Thank you for considering...

Antigone Books is a Tucson landmark and a mainstay of Tucson's historic 4th Avenue. It has a funky, eclectic vibe and features great books for a diverse audience. They also have an excellent selection of children's books and a sweet little reading nook for kids.

In addition to being a wonderful place to discover new great reads, Antigone also boasts a wide array of interesting and one-of-a-kind gifts, cards, and other novelties. They also consistently sell Tibetan prayer flags.

Some recommendations for shoppers at Antigone Books - calendars, journals, finger puppets, snarky tinned candy, dolls based on historical figures, and some great ideas for gifts for crazy cat ladies.

If you have friends or family who are close minded and homophobic, I am confident that you will be able to source a book from Antigone Books that might be able to truly offend their Christian sensibilities. Similarly, if you have some overly aggressive macho types who believe in the servitude and subservience of women, there are some books that might really push them over the edge.

I would be bereft if Antigone shut down. Please support your local bookstore...

I was walking down 4th one day and I saw this little cute book store on the corner. So I decided to go in. I saw Britney Spears book through the window so that definitely made me want to go in. Does places a decent size is a managed to fit a lot of books if there's a book you can't find it can always order a book for you so don't go to the other guys just go ahead and go through and order the book you want. What does bookstore doesn't have just books they have a whole shopping / gift section with a whole bunch of little knick-knacks and cute things they carry handmade art from local people for example handmade greeting cards and thank you cards etcetera etcetera. They have a little section that has small gift ideas you'll find something you like there were several things that I wanted to buy. I didn't have any interaction with the staff nobody greeted me or came up to me and asked if I needed any help finding anything but my friend walked up to the desk to ask for specific book and they seem pretty nice...