Warning - if you are under the age of 30 and have spent more than 10 minutes in the store, the owner will expect you to gush wads of money from your pockets or get the hell out. Located in the Kingsport Town Center next to Italian Village, I Look Books Bookstore and Teas gives off a welcoming vibe. The setting is quite nice; books are stacked here and there, nothing is quite too formal, and everything is laidback. For the most part, malls are meant for browsing. Sure, you might have to go to one and visit a specific store, but usually, when you are bored, malls are where you go to walk around and see if something new and exciting catches your eye. This practice in modern society is known as "browsing." When one browses, they are - generally - not looking for anything in particular but in some cases there are ideas that will pop up here and there. I've been to I Love Books Bookstore and Teas before, and it's usually been a pleasant experience. But the last time I visited the store was a very uncomfortable experience. I was hanging out with a buddy of mine and we decided to go there. He was apparently looking for nothing in particular but had a few specific subjects - or genres - in mind. We had been in the store for maybe six or seven minutes. He pulled a book off the shelf. I though it looked interesting, so I pulled an additional copy off too. My friend sat down in a chair behind him that was - again, a chair - located directly behind him, obviously meant for sitting. After maybe eight seconds, the owner literally rushed over to us and loudly shouted that if we weren't going to buy anything, then we'd better get out of the store. We were embarrassed. I, for one, felt ashamed as if I had done something wrong. So we decided to look around for maybe a couple of minutes longer - all the while the incident in the back of our minds - and decided to leave before all Hell broke loose. This was an hour before closing by the way, so there's no professional reason as to why the owner would be rushing people out of his store. Anyways, my friend decided to return back real quick to check the details of a book he was looking at so he could purchase the thing in the near future. He was greeted at the door by the owner who apparently did not want to admit my dear friend entrance. He questioned him, almost in an interrogative style, before allowing him to go on and do his thing. Really upset the two of us. We have not been able to get over this. I can easily say that this was the worst experience I've had in any kind of store regarding the owner. Maybe he's been doing this all his life, maybe he's a good guy deep down inside. Maybe this is true, and maybe running a business just isn't for everyone even if they think they're the most down-to-earth bookstore owner the world has ever known. Unless you want to be ambushed by a man shouting at you to give him money, avoid this store.
This is taken from my yelp account as of 6/24/15 however, people tend to use google reviews more often so I'm deciding to repost my review here. Also, my thoughts have not changed and time has not changed anything either. I went here again this past summer and the man acted the same as he did previously. Such instances include the time when my family and I were walking over to look at a table of books; and he told us "this is my storage area" even though there was no wall or curtain to cover up this "storage". Plus, the whole time after/ before this we just felt unwanted and pressured to leave. Anyways, here is the exact copy and paste from my yelp review:
I came in with my brother, the man asked me if I was looking for anything in particular, I responded with "no, just browsing today, but if I need any help I'll let you know" . My brother asked him if there were any comics and he showed him to the comics
Okay, I'm creating this yelp account just to write this review.. (TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE)
So I decided to move on, frustrated, and I saw some other things that interested me, he kept constantly asking me if I needed anything in particular but I kept insisting I was browsing, which I was, he then told me "you should leave if you're not going to get anything" (I was planning on it up until that point) and asked me "are you waiting on anybody?" (Like geez can you leave me alone) "no" , I replied , "just browsing" .. Frustrated and angered, I left, and left the mall entirely.. And here I am writing this review
So I decide to browse some more and look around, I eventually get down on my knees to look at a book that talks about the philosophy of language.. It seemed really interesting, so I sat down and was considering purchasing the book, and I decided to read a little bit of it and flip around to see if I should buy it and I saw there were some things written in pen about the previous reader's own philosophy, it was really unique. A few seconds later the worker (man with white hair) came walking around and told me "you can't just sit around reading our books, they are for sale" it shocked me and I put away the book in shame..
He goes back to the table as I look at different philosophies and picks up something he thinks he might like, the encyclopedia of urban legends, the man quickly tells him "that book is not for sale"
I hardly ever give out five stars;however, I do believe that Mr. Moody and his retail concept deserve it. He is friendly, insightful and gets off his rear to assist. I would not, however, abuse this hospitality by saying that the book is some shekels (pennies or dollars) less expensive at Amazon or any other competitor. I buy an enormous amount of books per month and could easily buy everything wherever I chose. Yet, I vote with my dollar to give Mr. Moody and his store profit dollars to keep the bookstore open. I hate globalized concepts such as Amazon, etc; yet, the flesh is weak. That said, I would never go into a GREAT independent bookstore with honey and aromatherapy to state the obvious. Congrats Mr. Moody. May the flock come.
I'll never go back again, I won't buy anything from him, he doesn't deserve my money
This is a bookstore really a library where you can find anything you are looking for and if Glen does not have it, he most of the time can get it for you. I love this bookstore and you will too.
.. Why would the book be out if it wasn't for sale(??)
I smelled some of the teas and saw old Shakespeare and tons of bibles and I was really starting to like the place
First impression was it was an awesome bookstore with used, cool books
I love the store. The man by the tea counter was very helpful and kind. We bought some books, some natural things by the front window. And never felt like we had to rush out. The price is very good. And the tea is yummy. I got the chocolate earl gray
My brother and I split off, and he comes back to me and tells me that they really don't seem to care about comics and they seem to just buy anything because they were laid out well (some were upside down) and they weren't sorted by character/ alphabetized under their company, they were only sorted by their company which made it difficult to find what he wanted
I Love Books Bookstore And Teas is a US Book Store based in Kingsport, Tennessee. I Love Books Bookstore And Teas is located at 2101 Fort Henry Dr, Kingsport, TN 37664, USA.
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