Books-A-Million — Local services in Rapid City

A lot of BAM stores I’ve been in have been fairly nice, per my personal opinion. But I was less than impressed with this location..

The store just didn’t feel real CLEAN. It wasn’t the most organized in a lot of ways and didn’t have that awesome bookstore feel, I don’t even know if that makes sense but I’m not sure how else to describe it. It seemed like maybe they were just really low on stock, but BAM stores that I am familiar with are usually packed to the brim with books, magazines and random collectibles, like almost excessively, and this location was bear in comparison to most I’ve seen.

Let me also mention that I am an avid reader, so going to bookstores and just walking around and basking in the glory of so many books in such close proximity is a guilty pleasure of mine. I LOVE going to bookstores, but this BAM kind of just made me feel uncomfortable and I didn’t enjoy it like I normally do. I felt like the employees were unfriendly as well and just side eyeing me the whole time, and that’s not even the biggest part that I didn’t enjoy.

Something I did think was pretty neat, though, was that this location still has one of those old ladders that’s connected to the bookshelf so you can climb to the higher up books. I wish more places still had those.

I just feel that this location could do better. It’s possible I came in on an off day but I’m certainly glad this isn’t my local...

I love this store, however the last time I went in I found a bargain book but the cover had something all over it and it would not come off. I brought the book to the register and respectfully asked if they could look to see if they had any without the mark/stuff on the cover. The women helping me, Teresa, told me they probably didn’t have any others but didn’t even check. She then told me that the stuff all over the cover was “part of the cover” it definitely was not. I checked out anyway because this women was very rude and the book was only around five dollars. After checking out I decided to go check in a different section to see if I could find one without the mark. I found one but it did not have the bargain sticker. I brought it to the front to ask if I could trade them out. The person who helped me this time was a young girl who was also pretty rude. She told me should would not exchange the book and seemed annoyed that I had even asked. I understand if they weren’t able to exchange it but the customer service was awful. Maybe they were having a bad day or something but they should really be nicer to...

Ok, here is the good. They have Molskine and LePen. They have some interesting journals with different approaches the binding. I found a rainbow bag that says love is love. They have arguably the largest selection of planners in town, nice ones too! The magazines are terrific. They have a great selection that is actually inspiring... Literally. It makes me want to be a photographer and a knitter and a writer. It's also the only place in town that has science fiction short stories.

The bad... They seem to have to sell magazines in order to stay in business. I almost feel accosted every time I go in.

Why is the library cooler than BAM? I feel terrible giving a bad review... It's just one thing..... But it's awful... So bad I go once a year to double check to make sure I'm not wrong. But I'm not buying a magazine subscription, ever, seriously, BAM.

P.S. If you're into Bibles, this is the place. They have lots of different translation s and approaches. For example, an archaeological bible. ...