Bennington Bookshop — Local services in Bennington

I visited this quaint bookstore last week and even said to my children "what a cute bookstore". That's where it ended. I decided to pick up the new Elon Musk book that was on display on one of the front shelves and headed to the counter. I laid the book down and I asked the lady at the counter to see if she had the book 1776. She looked it up an didn't say anything so I finally had to ask, do you have it and she responded no. As I got ready to check out, she didn't say a word. Not, is that everything, did you find everything you needed, nothing.... But my Aunt came over from the coffee shop and asked me why I was buying that book (Elon Musk) and laughed. I said I wanted to learn more about him and the companies he built. She made the comment she didn't agree with his lifestyle (multiple children by different women). Fair enough. As I turned to pay, the lady still hadn't said a word. When I finished paying, she laid the book down and turned around while saying "he just is not a nice person" and walked off. I get it, people may not always agree with one another but to just be plain rude from a book I selected, that YOU carry in this store, is just not right. I should have returned the book and gone elsewhere but it just caught me off guard how someone could act like that. Regardless of peoples different views,...

We used to come here every year after the garlic festival to buy my daughter a book. This year (today) we went and I sat in the back in the children’s section while my daughter made her selection and my husband looked around the rest of the shop as he usually gets something for himself as well. I was sitting for maybe 10 minutes and then the owner/cashier rudely came over and told us to move it along “so other people could sit” even though no one else was really back there that whole time except one other woman who was looking around and not trying to sit (and who was there for the comment and also was taken aback by it and confused). Why have chairs if you don’t want people to use them? Note, there were two chairs and I was only occupying one of them. Got the impression she was making assumptions about whether we were going to buy anything and wanted us gone. A good tradition ruined by bad customer service. Will...

A wonderful cozy, brightly lit bookstore right off main street in Bennington. The staff was friendly, helpful and courteous. The smells from the new coffee shop just adjacent to the book store wafted in. There was a wide selection of books from children's illustrated to adult non fiction. Plus many local authors and subjects such as local trails and waterfalls. We will stop in again in our next...