The Book Store

The Book Store. Equitable Building 606 Locust St. Des Moines, IA  50309 phone 515.288.7267

owner:  John Heitzman

The Book Store has been selling books in downtown Des Moines since 1961. Thirty years before the chain bookstores came to town and the only other local booksellers were Hyman's and Younker's mezzanine...there was the Book Store. Back then, downtown Des Moines was a vibrant retail scene well into the evening hours. Walt Shotwell, a veteran Des Moines Register & Tribune columnist, once told me weekends downtown were so crowded it was shoulder-to-shoulder on the sidewalks. It was a good place to be and a far easier time to be a bookseller.  Today the store is located at the front entrance of the historic Equitable Building at 6th and Locust, and although scaled back in size from its original 6,000 square foot location, still offers a unique and eclectic selection of new and remaindered books, magazines and cds.  Visit and you'll be greeted by booksellers that read and who will put a good book in your hands, or if not in stock, will order and have it to you within three days.