AURORA | Finding the rows upon rows of used books at 2nd and Charles means walking past wooden crates of vinyls, miniature plush versions of the U.S.S. Enterprise and wall displays of shiny electric guitars.
There are also the cardboard boxes stuffed full of comic books and the glass display cases packed with vintage video game systems. Arriving at the bookshelves takes getting beyond the metal racks stuffed with used CDs and DVDS, the massive rack of T-shirts on the far wall and passing all manner of posters, toys and other random baubles that fill up the 29,000-square-foot space. It’s a wide range of merchandise designed to attract a similarly wide range of customers, including those who may not be big readers.
“One of the things that I like to say is that we recycle entertainment, whether it be music, books, collectibles or movies. That’s the kind of thing we buy and sell,” said Renée Clay-Handley, the general manager at the new store that opened its doors last week. “It’s hard to come in here and not shop.”
The Alabama-based 2nd and Charles chain is hardly the first business to offer a wealth of entertainment-related merchandise under one roof. But owners hope their newest store in Aurora’s Arapahoe Crossings center will offer shoppers a more comprehensive model for buying and selling used entertainment goods.
After a soft opening last week that included live readings by local authors, managers are planning a bigger celebration this weekend. The store will host live bands, musicians and other performers at the Aurora store May 18-19. That celebration will pave the way for a second Colorado store that’s set to open in Broomfield by the end of the month.
In addition to separate sections for books, vinyls, instruments, video games and clothing, the store operates a buy-back system that’s become a part of the company’s standard operating procedure. Customers can bring in used items by the boxload to the former Borders Books store, and a staff of pop culture experts are on hand to make offers.
“We have a staff of buyers who will go through and evaluate the items based on quality and condition, as well as supply and demand,” said Clay-Handley, who managed the buy-back program at the 2nd and Charles flagship store in Birmingham, Ala. before coming to Colorado. “There are some things we don’t take, like outdated business books or outdated reference material.”
But apart from those obscure materials, the store accepts most kinds of merchandise. A network of shelves, boxes and tables is set up behind the front desk, and young, smartly dressed staff members are on hand to lend their pop culture expertise. The employees hope that degree of commitment, combined with prices less than $10 for books, CDs and vinyls, will be a strong enough lure to tempt people away from sites like Amazon and eBay.
It was enough of a drive to get Laura Boldt into the store a few days after the Aurora location opened. Boldt, a local resident who had just received an Amazon Kindle as a gift, stopped into the store to find a case for her new gizmo. She may have just made the switch to an e-reader, but Boldt said there were plenty of old-fashioned books, CDs, games and other entertainment goodies to bring her back into the store. The prices were also right, she added.
“I’m cheap,” Boldt said simply, adding that she’d already spotted plenty of affordable goodies for her husband and three children. “I was surprised by the size of the place. We’re always trying to find something less expensive.”
The size of the store, combined with the knowledge of the staff, is the key behind the store’s model, according to José Trujillo, the buy-back manager at the new Aurora store.
“Between everyone back here we all have some varying knowledge. My personal expertise is more on movies and music,” Trujillo said. He wore a nametag that included the declaration, “I Love ‘Evil Dead.’” “We have a few staff members who are really into comic books, a few who are really into books. We try to get a collection of people … As far as used books, music, comics and movies, I don’t know anywhere around here that’s quite as big.”
It gives this store the feel of featured shop on the reality TV show “Pawn Stars.” Clay-Handley recalls the customer who came in with an original vinyl copy of the Beatles’ “White Album” worth more than $100. Even Trujillo, who started at the Aurora store after working at a Colorado software company, has already built up stories about memorable items from customers. He spoke about a poster from the film “The Empire Strikes Back” supposedly signed by its stars.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to authenticate it, so we weren’t able to buy it back,” he said. “We at least got to look at it.”
The Aurora store is the first in Colorado and the smallest store in the company’s chain of 10. Still, the store dwarfs its competitors in terms of size and scale. Sure, local record stores have taken to adding items ranging from T-shirts to books to their shelves as a matter of survival. Aurora stores like Angelo’s CDs and Denver stores like Twist & Shout offer vinyls, DVDS, T-Shirts, posters and other merchandise along with new CDs. Such stores also buy back used music from customers.
But it’s the quality and sheer amount of merchandise in the 2nd and Charles store that stands out. The Les Paul guitar hanging on the wall is top-of-the-line. Though it takes a walk to reach, the book section in the back of the store is on par with the selection at a Barnes & Noble. The store includes book displays arranged by staff favorites and school reading lists; a display of the store’s logo built entirely out of used books dominates the back wall. The selection of vintage video games and consoles is out of another era, with Super Nintendo and first-generation PlayStation games sharing shelf space with Kindles and PC laptops.
“It’s a one-stop shop for books, music, comics. You can’t go anywhere and find all of those things at once,” Clay-Handley insisted. “You can really find all things entertainment-related here.
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707
I just went to the Broomfield location and they are anal about scratches on used discs. Everything I brought was in perfect playing condition. Don’t waste your time. I like the idea of one stop media recycling but they are not fair on value and don’t take used items.