Bufftown Bargains and AAUW Used Bookstore open in the same location in Jamestown

Jun. 22—JAMESTOWN — The AAUW Used Bookstore and Bufftown Bargains are open for customers at 810 18th St. SW.

Penny Dockter, manager of Bufftown Bargains, said reaction from the public to the June 12 opening has been "great."

"Everybody said it's a good combination with the bookstore and the thrift store together," she said.

Hours for both are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The bookstore and the thrift store share one checkout location for purchases that is located in Bufftown Bargains.

Bufftown Bargains is owned by Lucas Dockter. The thrift store has everything but furniture, Penny Dockter said.

"We accept clothing of all sizes, children's and adult, teenage clothing," she said. "And then household items. A little bit of everything."

People may donate items or consign them, she said.

"For consignments, we have two options," Dockter said. "You can consign to yourself or you can also consign to a charity or a group within 70 miles of Jamestown."

People who consign to a charity or organization would have their portion of money from sales of their items given to that charity or organization.

Charities or organizations so far are Prairie Paws Rescue, James River Humane Society, Frontier Village, Safe Shelter, Medina Public School, St. John's Academy, Jamestown First Assembly and Mayer-Morlock American Legion Post 250 in Gackle, Dockter said.

"Once the proceeds reach $500, we submit a check to that charity or organization," she said.

She said they encourage people who sign up an organization or charity to let that organization or charity know they have an account and to bring their items to Bufftown Bargains and let them know they go under that charity or organization.

Drop-off days for donations or consignments are Mondays and Tuesdays from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. People should bring the items to the east door of the building, Dockter said. They do not accept furniture or items out of season and reserve the right to look through items as they arrive, she said.

They plan to keep the store's inventory fresh, Dockter said.

"We are going to move items through pretty quickly," she said.

Clothing will be moved out every 30 days and household and other items will be moved out every 60 days to ensure fresh inventory, Dockter said. They also plan to post new items at the store daily on their Bufftown Bargains Facebook page.

"We have people that have been in here every day since we opened, we've noticed, looking, so we just want to be able to put as much on the racks as we can and move the old items out and put the new items in," Dockter said.

Clothing taken off the shelves after 30 days will be donated to Dakota Boys Ranch which will send them overseas to people in need, she said.

Dockter said Bufftown Bargains is a more charity-driven business.

"When we started this we decided we wanted to be like that, to give back to the community because there's so many needs here for different things," Dockter said.

She said during the Christmas season, they may open a room with holiday merchandise and there is other potential space in the building that may be used as well.

Book donations to the AAUW Used Bookstore have remained steady since the nonprofit reopened on June 12, said Jody Larson, an AAUW (American Association of University Women) volunteer.

"We rely on community donations for our books," she said. "All our books are donated."

The Jamestown AAUW group, which has more than 30 members, operates the bookstore.

The bookstore moved to the new location after the building housing it and Dakota Store was slated to be demolished in downtown Jamestown. More than 30 volunteers helped with the move, transporting 500 boxes of books in four hours, Larson noted.

"The community volunteers, the community support was huge," she said, including help from the men's basketball team at the University of Jamestown. Volunteers also helped get the books on the shelves in the new location.

The AAUW Used Bookstore carries the same categories of books as it did in its previous location, Larson said.

The bookstore offers a variety of books including:

* novels — fantasy, Westerns, romance and large print

* Nonfiction — biographies, cookbooks, religion, history and reference material such as dictionaries

* North Dakota fiction, nonfiction

* North Dakota history

* Jamestown history

* Sports

* Art

* Young adults and children's

The new location features a small seating area and table for children in the children's book area.

There are a few maps inside the store showing the floor plan to help people find the categories of books they're seeking and more will be added, Larson said.

"People are complimentary of how it looks in here," she said of the new site. " ... People say it's brighter, it looks fresh. People are impressed with our organization (of the bookshelves and labeling)."

Prices for the bookstore's books are $3 for softcover and paperbacks and $5 for hardcovers, she said, and can be found on the front page inside the individual book.

"There are some exceptions to that but rarely do we have a price higher than $5," she said.

All of the bookstore's 23 workers are volunteers who perform a variety of tasks and they are always in need of more, she said. Volunteers help sort, price and shelve incoming books, alphabetize books and organize them. They could use a volunteer with public relations skills in social media and website, she said. The bookstore has a Facebook page and website. Volunteers do not have to be a member of AAUW.

"We are always looking for more volunteers so if people are interested, leave your name and a phone number at the checkout counter," Larson said.

The bookstore's profits go to community projects such as the AAUW Garden Tour and TechSavvy & STEMtastic event for middle school students, which the group coordinates and financially supports each year, Larson said.

The AAUW Used Bookstore also donates surplus books to Halloween events, previously held at Frontier Village and the Buffalo Mall.

People who want to donate books may bring them anytime when the bookstore is open, Larson said. The bookstore does not accept textbooks, encyclopedia sets, Readers Digest Condensed Books and magazines.

"Otherwise we take anything and everything," she said.