Intermission Bookshop — Local services in Brownwood

We stumbled across an Instagram post for this bookshop at 7 am. By 2 pm.we had two car loads of people ready to take the 2 hour trip from our house to it. When we arrived at the parking lot, we were a bit concerned that it was closed because there was so much open parking, BUT they were open!!!! From the outside, you can almost smell the books wafting out, and it ramped up our excitement even more! We had an 8 year old all the way up to 64 year old giddy with excitement! We walked in the doors and a woman greeted us and gave us a little presentation about the history of the building from early 1900s to now and then the run down of where the books were, how the shop was opened in the beginning of covid and really got us immersed in the feelings of the past. We were hooked already as she seemed to truly enjoy the hell out of her job. She mentioned that there was a mix of used and new books, and I was a little discouraged, thinking that they would have an older selection of books... I was wrong! They had soooo many books on my TBR (to be read) list! They have a HEAVY presence of children's and religious books BUT had the fantasy,contemporary romance, dark romance, and YA sections as well as horror, thriller, historical fiction and romance... they even had a badass section of all texas/cowboy themed books... a LARGE one! The bathroom is nice. There were plenty of chairs around for my mom to sit with her bad knee... and fun was had for all! The ONE suggestion I did have is that there is an INCREDIBLE loft upstairs with a meeting area and a view of the front end of the store... but up there were all the biographies, cookbooks, war books, and history books... so after going up like 60 stairs and expecting to be wowed like some magical book fairies would be hiding up there... it was just a perusal and heading back down... which is probably not anything bad except I amped myself up for the mystical and found boring.... which is on me. All in all, I will go back. I will DEFINITELY keep sharing the link to the insta video, and I am so excited we all loaded up for a mini road...

Unfriendly environment. Will never be back. Went for the first time during Sipping Under The Stars tonight 12/2/2023 with a gf. As a Brownwood born resident, It has been a while since I felt this uncomfortable in a business. Will never recommend.

Whoever the lady was in the red and black flannel helping the gentleman serve the wine around 6pm is who made me and my gf feel unwelcome. I understand not everyone is welcoming of all ethnicities or races, but her views were clearly made by her nonverbal cues (facial expressions etc) and lack of verbal communication when we reached the podium. That was after her whispers and repetitive staring of me and my friend as we walked the venue. She completely turned her back and did not speak to us forcing only the man to engage in small conversation. She had no issues engaging in conversation with the people in front of us. First impressions are everything, so I will just go where the energy is welcoming...

I was the only customer in the store and was practically ignored. It is a beautiful store, with an interesting history, and I was sad to see they weren't welcoming to out of towners. One thing I like to see in independently owned bookstores is their selection of local authors. There were a few older books here, but nothing recent. When I checked out, I asked if there were any independent authors' books in the store, the woman literally rolled her eyes and said independently published authors weren't any good. As an independently owned bookstore, I would have expected them to be more open-minded and support independent authors, especially those who live nearby. There are best-selling authors who began by publishing their own books. Ever heard of Andy Weir or E L James? I won't be returning here or...