Name That (Used) Bookstore! - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Rodney · 05-20-2006, 04:34 PM

I and the wife are toying with the idea of opening a used bookstore. Actually, we're beyond toying and into real estate foreplay.

But we need a name. Something that will catch the attention of people driving by, yet not weird enough to scare anybody off. I like "Book Monkey," but the wife won't buy it.

So -- any suggestions for a used bookstore name, serious or otherwise?

I will say that we live in a college town full of well-educated liberals, old hippies, rich hippies, trustafarians, surfers, starving students, and Latinos, if that gives you any inspiration.

Name's actually pretty important. I have a friend who opened a used bookstore in another town on a heavily traveled street. Wanted to call it "Big Brain Books," and put a plastic veined brain on the roof. But his wife talked him out of it (I know the feeling) and he went with a classy name, "Briarton Books" (from the neighborhood). Well, it's two years later and people are still stumbling in saying, "Gee, I drive by every day and I never knew you were here...." Doesn't get noticed.

CaliLivChick · 05-20-2006, 04:41 PM

What's the college's name, mascot? What's the name of the street that the store will be on? What neighborhood, city?

I'm thinking ______ Coast Books... fill in the blank. =)

maleficent · 05-20-2006, 05:15 PM

My latin is failing me- but sometihng along the lines of Libri Usati (used books in Latin) _- just pretentious enough to get attention..

BOOKS - would say what it is -- in big bold letters...

Mayan or Roman Gods of Reading or books or bargains? surely there is one with a good name

snowy · 05-20-2006, 05:20 PM

Our favorite bookstore growing up was a used one owned by a former coworker of my father's from back when he was still teaching high school. It was called, quite simply, Easton's Books (the guy's last name). I loved that bookstore! We would go up there at least once a month and Dad would let us pick out five books of our choice, more if they were from the bargain shelves. Needless to say, I grew up in a home of bibliophiles.

And yeah, let's not name the bookstore after banana slugs, all right? :P

Rodney · 05-20-2006, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliLivChick

What's the college's name, mascot? What's the name of the street that the store will be on? What neighborhood, city?

As SnowyOwls says, the mascot is the Banana Slug, the college, UC Santa Cruz. Anyway, I'm looking for something that define the store by what it is, not where it is.

Quote:

I'm thinking ______ Coast Books... fill in the blank. =)

Slug Coast Books?

Rodney · 05-20-2006, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maleficent

My latin is failing me- but sometihng along the lines of Libri Usati (used books in Latin) _- just pretentious enough to get attention..

BOOKS - would say what it is -- in big bold letters...

Mayan or Roman Gods of Reading or books or bargains? surely there is one with a good name

Thanks. Certainly if we can afford one neon window sign, it will say "books" in the largest letters we can afford.

Your mention of Romans and bargains got me to thinking of the Roman phrase "caveat emptor" -- let the buyer beware. I found an English/Latin translator on line and came up with "Caveat Lector": let the reader beware. Caveat Lector tickles me, but I don't think so :-).

Quote:

Originally Posted by onesnowyowl

Our favorite bookstore growing up was a used one owned by a former coworker of my father's from back when he was still teaching high school. It was called, quite simply, Easton's Books (the guy's last name).

My favorite used bookstore name belonged to a dark, cavernous used bookstore in, of all places, Bakersfield. It was called "Dusty Tomes." That's not really the image I want here in Surf City, but it was a great name -- and extremely descriptive.

Elphaba · 05-20-2006, 07:33 PM

A friend of mine is in the process of selling her used book store, and I believe it has done well over the years that I have known her. She picked a simple name, "The Book Stop" which doesn't appear to be what you are looking for.

What was unique about her store was that she catalogued your interests and notified you when something came in that you might like. (At your request, of course). I always thought that she should have named it "Your Book Stop." She certainly personalized the experience for her customers.

My two cents says sometimes simple is best.

doodlebird · 05-20-2006, 07:41 PM

name:
someone else's books

leaves lots of room to play with the name in your print ads.

look through someone else's books

go home with someone else's books

what not to name it...
i grew up in a town that had a couple of shops called "everybody's"
that always threw me off...
they were'nt everybody's!
they belonged to one person. grr.

JumpinJesus · 05-20-2006, 08:06 PM

One of the best used bookstores I ever browsed was called Aardvark Books. I don't know where the name came from, but I thought it was great.

Coming up with names has never been a strong trait of mine. I'd be the kind of person who'd just name it something generic for lack of imagination.

Good luck with your store. Used book stores are one of the greatest places to spend an afternoon.

Gatorade Frost · 05-20-2006, 08:16 PM

How about "Rodney's Readers"

cookmo · 05-20-2006, 08:44 PM

Hmm..I like Scuttlebutt Emporium

rockogre · 05-20-2006, 09:51 PM

Perused Papayrus? May not have the spelling right buy you get the drift.

Cynthetiq · 05-21-2006, 02:03 AM

A friend of mine is an avid used book fan. He took a weekend trip to Seattle which has the highest amount of used book stores in the US, to crawl through the miles of books. Maybe you can see how they differentiate themselves for one another up there...

CSflim · 05-21-2006, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JumpinJesus

One of the best used bookstores I ever browsed was called Aardvark Books. I don't know where the name came from, but I thought it was great.

Probably something to do withthe fact that 'aardvark' is one of the first words in a dictionary or an encylopedia.

CSflim · 05-21-2006, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doodlebird

someone else's books

I like this one.

Grasshopper Green · 05-21-2006, 04:57 AM

Actually Rodney, I like Book Monkey. It's catchy. I also like Someone Else's Books. I can't think of any good names myself

stevie667 · 05-21-2006, 06:16 AM

How about calling it Steven?

Serious, people see a store called steven and go in to see what the frak its on about.

shesus · 05-21-2006, 06:23 AM

We go to a used book store called AfterWords. Interesting name, but taken here in Chicago. Anyway, some names I've thought of in the 30 seconds I've been in this thread:

Book Ends (since it's the end of the book for someone)
Turning a New Page
Rebound Books (although people might think you restore books) :\
Boomerang Books
Reread Central
Spread the Word
Non-nouveau Novel
As the Page Turns

Ok...some of those are really stupid, but you asked and that's about as creative as I can be as I'm waking up with not enough coffee.

Rodney · 05-21-2006, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Medusa

Actually Rodney, I like Book Monkey. It's catchy. I also like Someone Else's Books. I can't think of any good names myself

I like both of those myself, but the wife doesn't like Book Monkey; Someone Else's Books is pretty clever, and I'll definitely put it on my list. But I'm not sure yet.

These are all a lot of great suggestions so far; keep 'em coming.

Redlemon · 05-21-2006, 06:30 AM

Certified Pre-Read Books, and parody the Lexus logo?

shoegirl · 05-21-2006, 06:31 AM

There was a great little bookstore that was around when I was a kid - it was called Readmore's. Quite simply, the owner just wanted us to all read a little more.

Rodney · 05-21-2006, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shesus

We go to a used book store called AfterWords. Interesting name, but taken here in Chicago. Anyway, some names I've thought of in the 30 seconds I've been in this thread:

Book Ends (since it's the end of the book for someone)
Turning a New Page
Rebound Books (although people might think you restore books) :\
Boomerang Books
Reread Central
Spread the Word
Non-nouveau Novel
As the Page Turns

Ok...some of those are really stupid, but you asked and that's about as creative as I can be as I'm waking up with not enough coffee.

Not stupid at all -- thanks very much. Actually, great minds think alive early in the morning. I joked with my wife yesterday morning about inventing a mythical bookstore owner named Paige Turner and calling it "Paige Turner Books."

"Turning a New Page" reminded me of "turning over a new leaf," leaf meaning page, and "The New Leaf Bookstore" kind of strikes me as cool. But there already is a New Leaf Market in this area, with several locations. People in this town are big on catchy business names. I'll keep thinking about the "page" or "leaf" idea.

Rodney · 05-21-2006, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoegirl2219

There was a great little bookstore that was around when I was a kid - it was called Readmore's. Quite simply, the owner just wanted us to all read a little more.

That's got a ring: Readmore Books. Thanks.

vanblah · 05-21-2006, 07:28 AM

You should call it "Live Nude Girls." Of course, you might not get the right clientele but it will certainly be memorable.

Every one of my favorite used bookstores has always been named after the owner. The top of the list was "A. Amitin's" in St. Louis. I don't know if it's still there, it's been over ten years since I lived there. Here in Memphis there's "Burke's Bookstore."

Seriously, I think if you try to get too cute with the name it works against you.

Of course, that's just my taste I suppose. It really comes down to who you are trying to attract.

Rodney · 05-21-2006, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanblah

Every one of my favorite used bookstores has always been named after the owner. The top of the list was "A. Amitin's" in St. Louis. I don't know if it's still there, it's been over ten years since I lived there. Here in Memphis there's "Burke's Bookstore."

Seriously, I think if you try to get too cute with the name it works against you.

It may be. Over in the Bay Area, the most famous bookstore for decades were the Holmes Bookstores in downtown SF and Oakland. But Holmes is a cool name. Unfortunately, _my_ last name is particularly undistinguished, and my full name -- well, I share that with a famous mass murderer. _That_ wouldn't be the right image, either.

Bookstores here in towns have names like Logos, Bookshop Santa Cruz, West Side Stories, The Literary Guillotine (scholarly books), Gateway Books (metaphysical), and so on.

percy · 05-21-2006, 07:38 AM

You could rip off Bob Seger and like someone else eluded to--Turn The Page.

Or go off of other entities like Blinds Of All Kinds---Books Of All Kinds.
Toy R Us---Books R Us

Or since there are lots of liberal hippies in town--- The Book Depository.

or just silly-- Bookworms Nook. This can lead to a nifty visual as well.

shesus · 05-21-2006, 08:14 AM

OK...following the leaf theme. I went for a walk and got an idea....

Releaf Books.

Kinda catchy I think.

roachboy · 05-21-2006, 08:21 AM

re:read books

all i have at the moment.

Charlatan · 05-23-2006, 03:53 AM

There is a book store here in Toronto called, Tequilla Book Worm. I've always thought that was clever.

Bill O'Rights · 05-23-2006, 05:29 AM

The Book Cellar?
Y'know...bookseller...book cellar...

ShaniFaye · 05-23-2006, 05:58 AM

Read em again Sam

lol sorry that was the best I could do

absorbentishe · 05-23-2006, 05:58 AM

Fun with the lights on...
New Life books
Second time around Books
Read once before, Books
Restroom Books
Reading Emporium
Fun with print

That's all I can come up...

Lady Sage · 05-23-2006, 06:45 AM

I tend to prefer the fun names like perhaps...
Book Worm or
Bookaholics Anonymous

RogueHunter65 · 05-23-2006, 03:29 PM

Tales to tell
Pageturners
Rodney Books

Personally, I like Book Monkey too.

shesus · 05-23-2006, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaniFaye

Read em again Sam

lol sorry that was the best I could do

lol Shani, I thought of the same thing.

cookmo · 05-23-2006, 03:53 PM

How about Rodney's Rejects..or Readmore Rejects

MSD · 05-23-2006, 06:23 PM

FREE BEER
With purchase of used books totaling $20 or more
Proof of age required to redeem free beer

bbysn · 05-24-2006, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodney

As SnowyOwls says, the mascot is the Banana Slug, the college, UC Santa Cruz. Anyway, I'm looking for something that define the store by what it is, not where it is.

Slug Coast Books?

Cruzin' Books

bbysn · 05-24-2006, 05:45 AM

undefinedundefinedCruzin' Books undefined

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbysn

Cruzin' Books

bbysn · 05-24-2006, 05:46 AM

or maybe Cruz In Books

05-20-2006, 04:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	Name That (Used) Bookstore! I and the wife are toying with the idea of opening a used bookstore. Actually, we're beyond toying and into real estate foreplay. But we need a name. Something that will catch the attention of people driving by, yet not weird enough to scare anybody off. I like "Book Monkey," but the wife won't buy it. So -- any suggestions for a used bookstore name, serious or otherwise? I will say that we live in a college town full of well-educated liberals, old hippies, rich hippies, trustafarians, surfers, starving students, and Latinos, if that gives you any inspiration. Name's actually pretty important. I have a friend who opened a used bookstore in another town on a heavily traveled street. Wanted to call it "Big Brain Books," and put a plastic veined brain on the roof. But his wife talked him out of it (I know the feeling) and he went with a classy name, "Briarton Books" (from the neighborhood). Well, it's two years later and people are still stumbling in saying, "Gee, I drive by every day and I never knew you were here...." Doesn't get noticed.

05-20-2006, 04:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
CaliLivChick In Transition Location: Sanford, FL (between Daytona and Orlando)	What's the college's name, mascot? What's the name of the street that the store will be on? What neighborhood, city? I'm thinking ______ Coast Books... fill in the blank. =) __________________ Don't trust anything that can bleed for a week and not die. Oh wait, that's me... nevermind... you can trust me.

05-20-2006, 05:15 PM	#3 (permalink)
maleficent Junkie Moderator Emeritus Location: Chicago	My latin is failing me- but sometihng along the lines of Libri Usati (used books in Latin) _- just pretentious enough to get attention.. BOOKS - would say what it is -- in big bold letters... Mayan or Roman Gods of Reading or books or bargains? surely there is one with a good name __________________ Free your heart from hatred. Free your mind from worries. Live simply. Give more. Expect less.

05-20-2006, 05:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
snowy Kick Ass Kunoichi Location: Oregon	Our favorite bookstore growing up was a used one owned by a former coworker of my father's from back when he was still teaching high school. It was called, quite simply, Easton's Books (the guy's last name). I loved that bookstore! We would go up there at least once a month and Dad would let us pick out five books of our choice, more if they were from the bargain shelves. Needless to say, I grew up in a home of bibliophiles. And yeah, let's not name the bookstore after banana slugs, all right? :P __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

05-20-2006, 07:41 PM	#8 (permalink)
doodlebird pío pío Location: on a branch about to break	name: someone else's books leaves lots of room to play with the name in your print ads. look through someone else's books go home with someone else's books what not to name it... i grew up in a town that had a couple of shops called "everybody's" that always threw me off... they were'nt everybody's! they belonged to one person. grr. __________________ xoxo doodle Last edited by doodlebird; 05-20-2006 at 07:44 PM..

05-20-2006, 07:33 PM	#7 (permalink)
Elphaba Deja Moo Location: Olympic Peninsula, WA	A friend of mine is in the process of selling her used book store, and I believe it has done well over the years that I have known her. She picked a simple name, "The Book Stop" which doesn't appear to be what you are looking for. What was unique about her store was that she catalogued your interests and notified you when something came in that you might like. (At your request, of course). I always thought that she should have named it "Your Book Stop." She certainly personalized the experience for her customers. My two cents says sometimes simple is best.

05-20-2006, 08:06 PM	#9 (permalink)
JumpinJesus Junkie Location: Chicago	One of the best used bookstores I ever browsed was called Aardvark Books. I don't know where the name came from, but I thought it was great. Coming up with names has never been a strong trait of mine. I'd be the kind of person who'd just name it something generic for lack of imagination. Good luck with your store. Used book stores are one of the greatest places to spend an afternoon. __________________ "I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses

05-20-2006, 08:16 PM	#10 (permalink)
Gatorade Frost Rookie	How about "Rodney's Readers" __________________ I got in a fight one time with a really big guy, and he said, "I'm going to mop the floor with your face." I said, "You'll be sorry." He said, "Oh, yeah? Why?" I said, "Well, you won't be able to get into the corners very well." Emo Philips

05-20-2006, 08:44 PM	#11 (permalink)
cookmo Insane Location: Ohio	Hmm..I like Scuttlebutt Emporium

05-20-2006, 09:51 PM	#12 (permalink)
rockogre I aim to misbehave! Location: SW Oklahoma	Perused Papayrus? May not have the spelling right buy you get the drift. __________________ Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American G. I. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom

05-21-2006, 02:03 AM	#13 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	A friend of mine is an avid used book fan. He took a weekend trip to Seattle which has the highest amount of used book stores in the US, to crawl through the miles of books. Maybe you can see how they differentiate themselves for one another up there... __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

05-21-2006, 04:57 AM	#16 (permalink)
Grasshopper Green ...is a comical chap Location: Where morons reign supreme	Actually Rodney, I like Book Monkey. It's catchy. I also like Someone Else's Books. I can't think of any good names myself __________________ "They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king" Formerly Medusa

05-21-2006, 06:16 AM	#17 (permalink)
stevie667 Too Awesome for Aardvarks Location: Angloland	How about calling it Steven? Serious, people see a store called steven and go in to see what the frak its on about. __________________ Office hours have changed. Please call during office hours for more information.

05-21-2006, 06:23 AM	#18 (permalink)
shesus Fancy Location: Chicago	We go to a used book store called AfterWords. Interesting name, but taken here in Chicago. Anyway, some names I've thought of in the 30 seconds I've been in this thread: Book Ends (since it's the end of the book for someone) Turning a New Page Rebound Books (although people might think you restore books) :\ Boomerang Books Reread Central Spread the Word Non-nouveau Novel As the Page Turns Ok...some of those are really stupid, but you asked and that's about as creative as I can be as I'm waking up with not enough coffee. __________________ Whatever did happen to your soul? I heard you sold it Choose Heaven for the weather and Hell for the company

05-21-2006, 06:30 AM	#20 (permalink)
Redlemon Devoted Donor Location: New England	Certified Pre-Read Books, and parody the Lexus logo? __________________ I can't read your signature. Sorry.

05-21-2006, 06:31 AM	#21 (permalink)
shoegirl Addict Location: Ohio	There was a great little bookstore that was around when I was a kid - it was called Readmore's. Quite simply, the owner just wanted us to all read a little more.

05-21-2006, 07:28 AM	#24 (permalink)
vanblah Junkie	You should call it "Live Nude Girls." Of course, you might not get the right clientele but it will certainly be memorable. Every one of my favorite used bookstores has always been named after the owner. The top of the list was "A. Amitin's" in St. Louis. I don't know if it's still there, it's been over ten years since I lived there. Here in Memphis there's "Burke's Bookstore." Seriously, I think if you try to get too cute with the name it works against you. Of course, that's just my taste I suppose. It really comes down to who you are trying to attract.

05-21-2006, 07:38 AM	#26 (permalink)
percy Addict	You could rip off Bob Seger and like someone else eluded to--Turn The Page. Or go off of other entities like Blinds Of All Kinds---Books Of All Kinds. Toy R Us---Books R Us Or since there are lots of liberal hippies in town--- The Book Depository. or just silly-- Bookworms Nook. This can lead to a nifty visual as well.

05-21-2006, 08:14 AM	#27 (permalink)
shesus Fancy Location: Chicago	OK...following the leaf theme. I went for a walk and got an idea.... Releaf Books. Kinda catchy I think. __________________ Whatever did happen to your soul? I heard you sold it Choose Heaven for the weather and Hell for the company

05-21-2006, 08:21 AM	#28 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	re:read books all i have at the moment. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite

05-23-2006, 03:53 AM	#29 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	There is a book store here in Toronto called, Tequilla Book Worm. I've always thought that was clever. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

05-23-2006, 05:29 AM	#30 (permalink)
Bill O'Rights will always be an Alyson Hanniganite Location: In the dust of the archives	The Book Cellar? Y'know...bookseller...book cellar... __________________ "I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony "Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

05-23-2006, 05:58 AM	#31 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	Read em again Sam lol sorry that was the best I could do __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

05-23-2006, 05:58 AM	#32 (permalink)
absorbentishe Boy am I horny today Location: T O L E D O, Toledo!!	Fun with the lights on... New Life books Second time around Books Read once before, Books Restroom Books Reading Emporium Fun with print That's all I can come up...

05-23-2006, 06:45 AM	#33 (permalink)
Lady Sage Mistress of Mayhem Location: Canton, Ohio	I tend to prefer the fun names like perhaps... Book Worm or Bookaholics Anonymous

05-23-2006, 03:29 PM	#34 (permalink)
RogueHunter65 Insane Location: Boston, MA	Tales to tell Pageturners Rodney Books Personally, I like Book Monkey too. __________________ I suffer from amnesia and deja vu at the same time... I think I have forgotten this before

05-23-2006, 03:53 PM	#36 (permalink)
cookmo Insane Location: Ohio	How about Rodney's Rejects..or Readmore Rejects

05-23-2006, 06:23 PM	#37 (permalink)
MSD The sky calls to us ... Super Moderator Location: CT	FREE BEER With purchase of used books totaling $20 or more Proof of age required to redeem free beer

05-24-2006, 05:46 AM	#40 (permalink)
bbysn Upright	or maybe Cruz In Books