Book Warehouse Opens New Location at Centralia Outlets

The Centralia Outlets have added a bookstore to the wide variety of shopping options with the opening of a Book Warehouse. 

Located between DXL Men’s Apparel and Vitamin World on the west side of Interstate 5, the East Coast-based Book Warehouse will offer a wide range of new books between 50 to 80 percent off the cover price, Regional Manager Jodi Fulmer said. The store sells surplus copies of books that publishers print and don’t need or sell. A few popular titles that are not surplus are kept in stock, and the store can order specific books if needed. 

“I’m looking to fill the gap of a bookstore,” Store Manager Valerie Brown said. “It is going to be real fun to be out there and to get books to whoever wants them.” 

Although it is a national company, each store can customize its inventory to meet the needs of the community, Fulmer said. The shelves of the store are packed with titles from every genre, from coffee table books to graphic novels. Fulmer added the store keeps popular school reading lists in stock and a selection of classics as well.  

A customer can come into the store looking for a specific title and in the process find another book they will love or one that they had forgotten about. 

“We offer a community shopping experience,” Fulmer said. 

Book Warehouse has been able to remain competitive with Amazon and other online sellers because of their prices and the experience, she said. The price of the print version of the book is close to the price of the digital copy, Fulmer added. People of all ages are still reading physical versions over the electronic versions. She called it the “return to print.” 

Marketing and property manager of the Centralia Outlets Renate Johnson said the last bookstore in the outlets closed in 2015. She noted this is the first new bookstore to open in Centralia in a long time. 

“We are excited about it,” she said. “We are pleased to have another bookstore because people have been asking for one.” 

Brown said she has heard the same thing as she has been introducing herself to the community since relocating to Centralia from Auburn with the store.    

“Here, a lot of people read,” she said. “People are excited.” 

Fulmer said the reason the chain decided to move to Centralia was because of the market history and the city’s location between two major cities. 

“We look for high traffic areas,” she said. 

Once she gets the store running and her staff of four trained, Brown said she will look at having a child’s story time at the store for free and hosting other community events. To her, the bookstore is a unique place where people gather. 

“In a bookstore you meet all kinds of different people with different backgrounds,” she said.