To celebrate Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 25, The Book Stop hosted its grand reopening with a pair of new owners. 

The store welcomed guests from open to close and was never without a customer, said owner Marty Valencia. 

It was a good start for a store that just months before had been set to close its doors for good.

Adaptation of community staple

The Book Stop first opened its doors in 1967 on Campbell Avenue. Forty years later, it moved to its current location at 214 N. Fourth Ave. 

But while the story has changed locations and now ownership, it still stocks a wide range of used books, from children’s literature to scholarly works and remains a “browser’s paradise.”

“It’s also just quirky. For us to come in and be able to find something new every time is kind of cool,” said customer Alexis Wait, who attended the grand opening last month.

Transition period

At the end of 2025, after nearly 60 years in business, then-owners of The Book Shop announced the store was closing. 

Then, they received an offer: Valencia and Frank Robson would buy the store and keep it alive. 

The pair worked at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix and had been looking to run their own bookstore. 

“I always loved the bookstore and appreciated it, and it’s a place that, before I knew I could own or run a bookstore, (I) kind of wanted to run,” Valencia said of the Book Stop.

When the previous owners retired in January, Valencia and Robson took over, closing in February to get books logged and develop their own vision for the store’s future.

They held a soft opening in March and officially relaunched on Independent Bookstore Day at the end of April.

“The biggest thing that I’m looking at right now is getting the online presence, the ability to do audiobooks through Libro,” Valencia said, referring to an audiobook service that allows customers to purchase audiobooks while supporting their local independent bookstores.

They also want the community to know that the Book Stop is still here, and it’s open, he said.

Looking ahead

Now, the duo is looking to the future.

“We don’t have to carry anything except used books, but we want to,” Valencia said. “We want to bring coffee, and we want people to come in and be in the store.”

He said he’s excited to restock shelves with books he and Robson are interested in, stand behind, and want to share with the community. 

The store allows customers to donate books in exchange for store credit, and the owners also bring books from their own collections. 

“I asked Marty about a specific book that was from the 1970s, and he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I have that one,’” said Denise Robson, Frank Robson’s mom. “So, the knowledge they have about the books that are here just got passed on.”

Walking into the store can be overwhelming or exciting when customers catch a glimpse of the fully stocked shelves in every corner, said first-time customer Alaina Mothershead.

“There’s so much. You can’t possibly have seen every book each time,” she added. “So I would come back if we needed Christmas gifts for people, knowing that this would be a good place to find a whole lot of everything.”

In the age of digital media and the rise of audiobooks and e-readers, Valencia said he wants the Book Stop to show Tucsonans the importance of physical media.

“You can change it if you want. You can underline it. It’s your book,” he said. “It’s shared between you, everyone who’s owned it and the people who worked on it. It’s a straight chain that I think sometimes you can appreciate and even feel and connect to.”

Even as they navigate a social media and community among fellow local businesses and Tucson readers, he said, books will always be relevant.

“I want to start that conversation about books and reading in general,” Valencia said. “Whatever’s going on, it’s all in books.” 

The Book Stop, located at 214 N. Fourth Ave., is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.