Cliff’s Books

Living in San Diego I only managed to go to Cliffs a few times a year and this past weekend I discovered that they are closed! What a bummer. I like Vromann;s across the street but Cliff’s was pretty neat and had that used bookstore charm. We have a few used bookstores here in San Diego and I hate to see these places shut down.

I am DEVASTATED that this place closed down. How, why?!
I wish I had given this place one last goodbye before they shut their doors for good… I probably would have gone hog wild during their liquidation sale.
Still in shock! I would come here often, and would leave with at least one interesting new book. It’s so sad to see that bookstores are closing left and right!

Cliff’s was on a long dive for sometime now. It’s one of a vanishing breed of dusty, miles-​of-​aisles, low turnover shops that can’t survive in the computer go-​go era. I put Cliff’s in a category with Acres of Books in Long Beach. Both now of fond memory.
I made some good picks there, notably a 17^th century Bible once. But lately the stock got picked over so thoroughly that even a 50% discount didn’t quite hit the spot. i’m not sure why the closing sale didn’t drop prices further since the inventory had long since lost its luster. Anyway, that’s my conceit. I miss the store already.
We need stores like Cliff’s. They preserve the books that aren’t in high demand but hold a special charm or use, and should always be available to buy at modest prices. For example, Cliff’s had an abundant stock of good paperback novels, history, design, auto repair guides, and obscure technical books.
If communities want places like Cliff’s to remain and serve the public, something must be done for the owners to keep them interested in a very difficult task. Instead, cities wash their hands and allow modern management to rationalize the quirky out of existence in favor of brighter, better managed alternatives. The process of «partnering with growth» (i.e. increases in revenue per square foot) has been underway in Pasadena for 30 or 40 years now. It’s made the place glittery and fresh — but too fast in many ways.
We may find, as time goes on, that one can never enjoy «retail therapy» the way it once was practiced. New retail science has found better ways to pick your pocket and keep you moving. «This isn’t a library» they used to say at the drug store comic book counter. Indeed, and it’s not even a used book store.

It was a very good book store and the people there were great, but it’s closed now.

Alas, Cliff’s is no more.
I went there a few days ago in search of a particular book that was proving difficult to find. What I found instead was a nearly empty storefront with huge «50% Off» signs painted everywhere. As I started to turn away, I saw the man himself unlocking the door to go in. He, Cliff that is, told me that the last day had been September 26, that he was moving out of the city, and that he hoped to open an online bookshop.
Another one bites the dust. ..

I really wanted to like this place, but it was just too claustrophobic, hot, dusty and dark for me to enjoy browsing. I came in with a fairly large number of specific things in mind and almost none were in stock. I found a few titles I was interested in, but they were in pretty bad condition and I couldn’t justify their asking price.

I love bookstores, so we checked this place out a few times while we were in Pasadena. The place is pretty big, but watch your step while you’re in there. It’s OK organized. The selection is nothing spectacular. The prices are a bit on the expensive side for a used bookstore, especially since some books are in pretty bad condition. Some books need to be thrown away, they’re too outdated (Lenin’s work, really?).
It can get hot in there, some strange «characters» might pop in, the customer service is slow. It takes a while to check out if you buy something, you feel like you’re in another time period.
There are better places out there, but if you’re in Pasadena and you feel like stopping by, well, it’s open till midnight every day!

I’ve been going to Cliff’s for 20 years. Don’t go there if you are allergic to cats or dust, though.
Cliff’s is a dying breed – a totally noncommercial used book store. It’s fun to browse and find funky books. It’s pretty cheap, too.
Unfortunately, the selection has really collapsed in recent years. They don’t seem to be getting much new stuff in these days, which is pretty sad.
It’s kind of like stepping back in time, including the dust. I will be sad to see them go, which seems the direction they are heading.

When I come into a store, I expect employees to say things like «Hi, how are you» or «Can I help you with something?» The last thing I expect them to do is make a comment about my size, which is exactly what this sloppy old man who worked there said to me, saying «YOU HAVE A BIGGER BELLY THAN I DID.» He then launched himself into a story about how he lost so much weight and how heavy he was. Yeah, like I’ll ever come back here.
Pity too, seems like they have some cool books. I found Windows 95 for Dummies tucked away in the computer corner. That chuckle is what makes this 2 stars instead of one. Do not come here if you’re fat, tall, too thin, or anything that could be blown out of proportion.

Not entirely sure what brought us here, but somehow we ended up in this store. I felt like I was in some hoarders house. Don’t get me wrong I love used book stores, but this place just felt off. The layout of the store made no sense, lights were off in some parts, and it felt dirty. The used book store I used to go to as a kid had a warm, light, friendly feeling.
I also found the prices here really high for used books. These are not special used books, so come on, lower the price.

I’ve been coming here for years since I was in high school. Still feels the same, which is a good thing when it comes to used books stores, right?
The Bads:
1) The prices. They’re all significantly higher than other places I’ve been to around California. This is the major ding in stars against this place.
2) Parking can be spotty at times in this area. Street parking. Minor issue to me.
The Goods:
1) Huge selection. One of the biggest if not the biggest used books collection I’ve seen in the San Gabriel Valley/​Pasadena/​East L.A. area.
2) The vibe. I like the «everything’s on old wooden shelves with hand-​written section labels and it feels like you’re walking through a hidden treasure hole in the wall» feeling. Timewarpppppppp
3) Mostly old books. So if you’re looking for super old out of print stuff, come check it out here. LOVE that timewarp nostalgic feeling from all the yellowed books.
4) The counter person has always been pretty friendly to me. I know some folks say otherwise, but I dunno. Once he ignored me for awhile for some reason but other than that he’s always given me a little conversational chat.

Stumbled upon this place.
looking for a French book. Well, my friend and I ended up looking at a billion books. Well, more so messing around with the books and wandered off within the many bookshelves. When I say messing around with the books, I mean that we accidentally reorganized the politics books with the country-​side home decoration books while shooting some pictures. What can I say? We were kinda tied up.
Aside from the mumble and jumble, this bookstore of used books has a large variety. The labels are clear cut and you’ll find large labels on the bookshelves, such as, «Cooking,» «Politics,» «Photography,» and my friend’s favorite, «Parenthood,» aka «How to become a good father.»
Not quite sure how much the books are, but I’m sure they average around $ 5 – 10. I want to come back again just for another photo shoot. But this time with my nerdy glasses.

I’ve been going to Cliff’s for number of years and always go back for a visit to see what interesting quirky thing I might find. For a used book store this place is HUGE! In addition to books, they also carry: DVDs, VHS, LPs, CDs, Cassettes and Magazines.
They have some nice gems behind a class case which is always fun to look at: first editions, signed copies, etc.
As for the staff, its basically run by a couple of grumpy hippies so don’t expect to get stellar service at this place.
They don’t appear to have an amazing inventory management system… they are not Borders or B&N. They probably haven’t a clue what inventory they have or don’t. They do have their books organized in some sort of fashion, some of their sections are pretty funny. I’ve been able to find some interesting titles titles here, but then again I don’t go in looking for anything specific… I’m usually just browsing.
Overall, I think it’s worth a visit as long as you don’t set the standards stellar high.

There’s nothing like a nice walk on a nice evening to a used bookstore, even if on the way you get sucker punched in the arm by a crazy homeless lady. No joke the last time I walked here from the west end of Colorado a, what I assume slightly crazy, once again assuming, homeless woman grunted «Hey» at me and when I looked she sucker punched me in the arm and kept walking. Odd times. Moving on.
Used book stores are the best but this one isn’t my fav. For the size that it is I guess I expect more and the room on the left smells like either dirty feet or good cheese, but what turned me off even more from this being a gem of a used bookstore were the prices.
My reason for used bookstores is that they are usually pretty cheap with the exception of some of the more rare and hard to find things that are more expensive for the collectors value. Not so much the case here.
Books that I’d usually take a shot on getting felt off limits here because of the prices. You know how it goes, you find a book that for some reason speaks to you, calls to you, whispers read me but when you check the price it’s $ 17 and you just put it back because you were thinking more like $ 5 – 7.
I do like that it’s open until midnight and I like the challenge of finding a deal there.
Oh and watch out for punchy hobos. ha