The past of Lansing’s bookstores  

Bookstores in Lansing have almost always been around.  

Although it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact opening date of City Bookstore, a photo dated from 1862 captured the building at the corner of Washington Avenue and Michigan Avenue, two years after the city was founded. City Bookstore wasn’t far from blacksmiths and liveries in town, selling a general stock of new books and stationery.  

It was soon followed by Crotty’s and A.M. Emery bookstores in the sleepy but soon-to-be bustling downtown. John Crotty, the proprietor of Crotty’s, was a Boston transplant. His bookstore, which opened its doors in 1888, had several locations during its 52 years of business in the downtown area 40 years at the original location before it gave way to new construction and moved to 110 E. Allegan St. in 1921. It closed following the death of Crotty in 1933. In 1888, Crotty served as mayor of Lansing. 

Another early bookstore in Lansing was A.M. Emery at 116 N. Washington in 1874, later moving to 223 N. Washington in 1924. It closed during the Great Depression. To hedge his bet as a bookseller, Emery also sold window shades out of his bookstore. 

One of Lansing’s most famous bookmen was C.W. Ellison, who after working of variety of odd jobs, including driving a coal truck, opened Ellison’s Books in 1935 in the Strand Theatre and Arcade on Washington Avenue. Ellison opened a used bookstore at 101 Washtenaw St., and in 1942 he consolidated the two stores at the Washington location. It stayed open until 1975, when Ellison closed it due to failing health. The new location had served as a livery and an indoor golf range. A boxing club was on the upper floor. 

Ellison’s son, Raymond Ellison, said he worked in the bookstore as a young boy sweeping, sorting and shelving books and hauling a wagon overflowing with books to the post office.  

“The success of the store was due to the ambience of being in a basement, the tin ceiling, the creaking floors above and the numerous little nooks and crannies,” he said. “Dad would sit in a rocker and smoke his pipe or cigar — a no-no today.” 

Ellison said the bookstore was buoyed when his father bought the books of Michigan Supreme Court Justice Howard Weist and then stumbled on a tremendous cache of action-adventure writer James Oliver Curwood books, papers and manuscripts at a storage locker auction. Included was an original oil painting of a “The Grizzly King,” which was used for the cover of one of Curwood’s books and hung in the store. 

Ellison said his father was a preservationist serving on the State Historical Commission for 18 years who “led the effort” to preserve and save original buildings on Mackinac Island.  

Ellison’s other son, James Whitfield Ellison, appears to have been inspired by his father’s business, becoming a successful author and screenwriter. Whitfield Ellison wrote seven novels, including “I’m Owen Harrison Harding,” which was a coming-of-age story of a young man set in a Midwest city much like Lansing. It wasn’t a coincidence that the young man’s father owned a bookstore. The thinly veiled story was widely acclaimed and compared to “The Catcher in the Rye.” 

Also, during the 1930s Knapp’s Department Store began selling books in a small shop on its mezzanine along with philatelic supplies and stationery. Arbaugh’s Department Store also sold books in its downtown store. 

Fast forward to the mid-20th century, when book and news services were selling around Lansing. Paramount News Center on Washington Avenue opened as early as 1952. Community News Center had locations in Frandor, the Meridian Mall and on West Saginaw Street. Its last location in Frandor closed in 2008. At one point in the mid-1970s, Community and Paramount were rolled together by local entrepreneur Alan Suits. 

Also, Readmore News Center, at one time, had three locations in Lansing — including one downtown. It closed its last branch on South Cedar in 2006 after 30 years, citing online competition and big box stores. Longtime customers missed their large selection of magazines. 

Revealers of the Hidden Truth, which sold African American-centric books, opened on Washington Square in 1991. Five years later, the store closed. In 1994, two entrepreneurs opened The Real World Emporium, which focused on gay and lesbian issues. The shop was one of the first to focus on such topics. It continued business until 1998.  

Way Station Books & Stuff opened on Washington Square in 2002, selling used and collectible books. The store was owned and operated by Randy Glumm, a former promotional manager for Barnes and Noble in Meridian Mall closed its downtown location in 2007 and moved into the old John Bean plant on South Cedar where it continued to operate for several years before shuttering. 

As is expected in East Lansing there was an emergence of new and used bookstores in the ’70s,’80s and ‘90s. 

Tom Sawyer’s Book Raft opened its first location in 1971 in East Lansing at 255 Ann St., and two others, at 309 N. Washington in 1971 and in Colonial Village in 1974. All locations were short-lived, displaced by escalating rents and urban renewal.  

 Jocundry’s in East Lansing was the go-to bookstore in town when it opened in 1976 at 210 M.A.C. Ave. The store thrived and had the feel of a mini-Borders. It became a social gathering place for Michigan State University professors and students. The store survived the loss of its owner and co-founder, John Robinson, who died in 1979. In 1991, the store moved to 515 E. Grand River Ave. until its closing two years later in December 1993.  

Owner Madra Robinson cited big box stores for part of the reason for closing. In 1994, Grand River Books opened in the former Jocundry’s on Grand River, only lasting a few years. 

Schuler Books, a Grand Rapids book chain, is owned by former Borders employees. They opened near the Okemos Meijer in 1990. It was spacious, offering new books and gifts. It held a steady stream of author appearances, including Richard Ford, an MSU grad and Pulitzer Prize fiction award winner for “Independence Day.” In 2001, Schuler books moved to Meridian Mall, where it still operates.  

A second location of Schuler Books, located in Eastwood Towne Center, opened in 2003. It operated until 2018, when the lease expired. The Eastwood location saw some of the largest author events ever in Lansing, including David Sedaris in 2015 and Caroline Kennedy the year before. Both authors attracted thousands of book lovers.  

Barnes & Noble, a big box bookstore, became a disruptor in the local book scene after it opened an Okemos location in 1992. The store was so busy, it considered adding a parking lot to support weekend crowds. In 2001, Barnes & Noble moved on to Grand River Avenue in East Lansing. Across town, the Lansing Mall’s Barnes & Noble opened — it still operates there. In 2012, the East Lansing location closed while the book industry endured major restructuring.