Kingstone Bookstore

Typical, your Asian no good customer service store. They don’t offer to help since everything they have is not in the English language. We will never return and if you expect poor customer service then only you should shop at a place like this!
So my daughter bought something there that is not a complete set but is not written in English so how would she have known as the box shows a figurine with the set in Chinese or Japanese language. Nor was is shown next to anything suggesting that if you purchase this you will have to buy or order this etc. So we bought it and got on the car and started to drive off. When she opens it is only HAS accessories to a figurine. We turned around and tried to take it back saying it didn’t come with a figurine like how it shows on the box and that older, Short haired woman says she can not return or do anything for us. We come to them and spend money in this store all the time as we come from out of town.

Tiny and crowded, but too many oh-​so-​cute things to squeal over!
I remember coming here as a kid. Back then, once I entered Kingstone, the right side of the store would be lined with rows after row of comics (manga, manhua, manhwa) in Chinese. But people would be reading the comics and not purchasing the volumes (like the manga-​readers at Barnes and Noble, which I’m totally guilty of too), so probably that’s why they no longer carry comics here at Kingstone. Sadface.
This place IS a huge place for cute Asian merchandise. Recently, the moment I walked into Kingstone, there would be a ginormous Totoro commanding my attention, surrounded by plushies and lots of animé merchandise (not just plushies, but also keychains, posters, slippers, hats, etc). There are also DVDs of Chinese and Korean dramas, and books in Chinese. I’m always impressed how brightly lit and clean this place is, a HUGE step above dingy Chinatown. Whenever I come to 99 Ranch, I have to stop by here to!

These people who work here or own this store are the most rudest POS ever! You must wake up feeling like crap everyday to treat your customers like everyone is a potential thief. So not worth supporting!

I don’t understand everything in this store but what I do know is that there is some very Kawaii finds in here!
Cuteness overload.
I need to find a reason to buy the puffed sushi stickers.
Anyways find unique little gifts here from poo key chains to socks with skulls!

A great place to browse around for stationary and movies/​music from overseas. They always have an interesting collection of items to look at if you’re shopping for a hard to shop for friend.

The bookstore are a dying breed and it’s getting harder to find one. Fortunately, Kingstone has been around for a while and hopefully they’ll stay.
They do have all the Asian flavors of a bookstore, and much more including movies and music CDs. They also have a good collection of novelty items.
Price wise, t hey won’t be cheap but then again, I wouldn’t mind paying a little more for quality.

PROS:
Wide variety of cute gifts for all ages
Specializes in animé, kpop, dramas, and books
Nice location in the mall
CONS:
overpriced (ex, $ 60 for a puzzle set. $ 16 for a large poster. $ 18 for a binder)
may come off rude towards non-​chinese customers
I’ve been «window shopping» here for 15+ years with occasional purchases of birthday cards and posters (total: 2)

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. My gf and I were browsing this place when the owner suddenly wanted to kick us out because he thought my gf said something in the store was «too expensive». Not only did we ever say anything of the sort, if we DID, then it is 100% his problem and not ours. This is a first and hopefully a last. I understand it is his right to kick anyone out of his store, but it feels beyond wrong to be kicked out when you haven’t even done something wrong, or more — when you haven’t done something they think you did.
I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but I’m too polite for that. Good luck with an attitude like that.

I love this store! I’ve been shopping here for years and years now. It’s hard to resist all the cutesy things they put on their display!
My main plus is that they have a pretty good collection of Domo Kuns, my favorite little brown mascot!!! =D. This store definitely never fails in me coming out with something… even as little as a keychain!

This store is adorable! There are mangas to purchase&rent, cute plushies, Asian Magazines, Asian Music such as MBLAQ, BigBang, etc. They also have Korean Dramas and different Asian dramas. Today I went and purchased the Korean drama «Boys Over Flowers». I love this drama and I couldn’t wait to get it! It was a good price too. $ 20 plus tax; better than paying $ 99 + online. There are four disks in it and it came in DVD pouches/​pockets. The drama is very clear and comes with english subtitles. I would totally recommend someone who likes watching Asian dramas and would like to buy it for a cheap price.

Kpop CD’S there is way overpriced. Some of it is not even korean press. Other things like star paper, mug, animé poster and cases was so expensive. Will only go there to look and not buy. Got a small unofficial poster there for $ 10. Waisted my money and time there. I will go there if they decrease their price.

Love this place. Get all my photo albums here. They are super cute and I get most of my x-​mas shipping done here for stocking stuffers! They have everything

Lots of cool things all around, from Hello Kitty to Totoro to Korean CD’s to Chinese cookbooks. Great place to get greeting cards, stationary, posters, stuffed animals, puzzles, and all sorts of other items. Could spend hours and hours looking around. The only thing that I didn’t like is the $ 5 minimum to use a debit card — not sure that’s legal.

What? All these years as a customer and yet I’ve neglected writing some good words about one of my favorite stores for cute trinkets and unique items. All kinds of products ranging from Asian movies, magazines, car accessories, figurines, stationery, paper for origami, etc etc. Every cute character you can think of can be found on a product here. It’s no wonder why kids of all ages love Kingstone. I, myself, revert to a gleeful little kid the moment I step foot inside. I wish there were more little shops like this one around.

«Interpretive Dance.»
A half-​dozen heads belonging to our church’s high school youth group swiveled in my direction, and the youth director, gave me a look that I had only ever seen once before. We were at Zut! in Berkeley and I had just told him that I didn’t share dessert. So yes, it was a look of shock with a tinge of worry because I had just suggested that we do an interpretive dance for Mother’s Day.
One of our girls had an even better idea, though: «Let’s give the moms haircuts!»
«Army style!» Another guy chimed in.
As they began to feed off one another’s creative ideas, I smiled at my perplexed friend who was no doubt kicking himself for inviting me to spend that Sunday with them: «I like the way they think.»
After a while, we stopped «shooting for the moon» and ultimately «landed among the stars» — almost literally — since we finally settled on making origami lucky stars (
) and chocolate covered strawberries.
The only problem was… WHERE WOULD WE GET THE STAR PAPER?!
Luckily for me, I have great, Asian with a «z» — AZN — friends that I can text while at work with — «OMG I have no idea where to get star paper in the Berkeley area. Helppp!»
Friends who will calmly respond with — «Bookstore near Ranch 99 at the Pacific East Mall, Richmond.»
So just this past Monday I popped «Pacific East Mall» into the Google Maps app and arrived at a decently sized plaza with all of the necessities: large Azn grocery store (Ranch 99), Azn bakery (Sheng Kee), boba spot (Ten Ren Tea) and… *drumroll, please*… an oasis of cuteness — KINGSTONE BOOKSTORE!!!
It’s the kind of place that you’ll go to for one thing, but will end up looking at EV-​ER-​Y-​THING. I seriously went up and down the aisles three times (thankfully there are only 4 or 5 of them). They have so many different plush toys, keychains, car fresheners, stickers, Korean movies and dramas, CDs, posters, diaries, workbooks, Studio Ghibli puzzle sets, and yes… packs of STAR PAPER! But not only do they have the flat paper, but the plastic straw-​like variety, too!
I had a hard time not buying one of every design and just limiting myself to 13 packs, but I know that I’ll definitely be back.
Main Objective: Star Paper
I Actually Left the Store With: 11 packs of Paper Star Paper (lol); 2 packs of Plastic Star Paper (lolol); and 1 Korean Movie — 200 Pounds Beauty w/​Kim Ah-​joong — only $ 6!
Thanks, Kingstone Bookstore!!!

This store has the most Taiwanese goods, Ty Babies, stationery, etc. I enjoy coming here as I received good customer service and the various stocks available in the store. I recommend you to drop by here if you are in the Ranch 99 market complex.

This is a Chinese Bookstore with a lot of other fun stuff, movies and CDs.
The things I look for when here are usually fun sticky page markers (they have so many kinds), boomarks, notepads, movies and Snoopy and the Gang stuff. They have bookends, bags of different sizes, stuffed animals, wallets, ceramics, etc. etc.
If you like or know others who like the Peanuts, Hello Kitty or other Asian cartoon characters, this is a good place to find something.

Kingstone Bookstore is more of a mini Japantown all in one store! I could spend an hour in this store just browsing through everything.
They carry a bunch of mangas but in Japanese only I think. I’ve never bought or checked out a manga over here.
But I do come for the cool things they have. Everything I love is in this store! Hello Kitty, Totoro, Sailor Moon, Miffy, Tokidoki, all things Miyazaki, and a bunch of other cool brands!
I usually come here every year to buy my school supplies for my college classes. I’ve bought pens & pencils (which I have to say is overpriced:/), a bunny stapler, cute folders, animal shaped paper clips, an alligator pencil case, a name tag lanyard, and many more.
I also like to come here to buy gifts for my girlies. They have everything cute that you could think of! Most things are priced reasonably and some things I find here are a dollar or two cheaper than other places!
Buying gifts? Come here. They are the best!
Oh & they only accept card if you spend $ 10 or more.

I’ve been to the store twice in a week!
The first visit was for the big rilakkuma doll… saw them in the window as my coworkers and I were passing by. I screamed and ran in there! It took me a LONG time to decide which size I want but the nice owner lady was very very patient.
Today I went to lunch in Pacific East Mall just so I can swing by Kingstone to pick up the Ghibli totoro puzzle. So happy now! Can’t wait to build it with my boyfriend haha~

I came here mostly to look at the chachkahs but also to look at the pens, stickers, tape, journals, and cards. They have a great selection of them all! I’ve never seen such a large selection of the mini-​star-​making origami paper. They also have some nice cards, including classy and cheesy ones.