The Reading Room at Mandalay Place in Las Vegas, Nev., perhaps the
world's only serious bookstore connected to a casino, is "turning a
corner this year," according to Irma Wolfson, the buyer for the store.
"Sales jumped in 2005."
On the eve of the store's two-year anniversary next month, Wolfson described the 1,000-sq.-ft. space (the Mandalay Place is a shopping arcade between the Mandalay and Luxor casino hotels) as "stuffed with books." Although gaming is an obvious strong category, she emphasized that the Reading Room is a general bookstore. It sells "all bestsellers" as well as titles from regional publishing houses such as the University of Nevada Press, Stephens Press and Huntington Press.
Because the Mandalay has a beach, Wolfson said that "timeless" easy fiction really can be called beach books. But the store also sells much "sophisticated nonfiction and literary fiction," some of it to people attending conventions. For example, "two years running," Wolfson said, veterinarians have met at the Mandalay and proven to be major book buyers. "They inhale books," she said. "I can tell from the sales reports the three or four days they're there."
The store has also become the bookseller for an upcoming Reason magazine conference and has done "lots of other off-site sales," Wolfson said. Supplying books at events is "becoming a large part of what we do."
"Oddly" the Reading Room sells a lot of children's books from just two floor displays of children's books, which Wolfson attributed to two things: the books are either "guilt gifts" parents take home to their children after playing in Vegas or are for children visiting the city, which has become family-friendly in recent years.
In a locked case, the Reading Room offers rare books ranging in price from $500 to as high as $15,000, "which gives us a little specialty." The store also sells some sidelines, including special handmade cards.
The Reading Room is located at 3930 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas, Nev. 89119; 702-632-9374.
On the eve of the store's two-year anniversary next month, Wolfson described the 1,000-sq.-ft. space (the Mandalay Place is a shopping arcade between the Mandalay and Luxor casino hotels) as "stuffed with books." Although gaming is an obvious strong category, she emphasized that the Reading Room is a general bookstore. It sells "all bestsellers" as well as titles from regional publishing houses such as the University of Nevada Press, Stephens Press and Huntington Press.
Because the Mandalay has a beach, Wolfson said that "timeless" easy fiction really can be called beach books. But the store also sells much "sophisticated nonfiction and literary fiction," some of it to people attending conventions. For example, "two years running," Wolfson said, veterinarians have met at the Mandalay and proven to be major book buyers. "They inhale books," she said. "I can tell from the sales reports the three or four days they're there."
The store has also become the bookseller for an upcoming Reason magazine conference and has done "lots of other off-site sales," Wolfson said. Supplying books at events is "becoming a large part of what we do."
"Oddly" the Reading Room sells a lot of children's books from just two floor displays of children's books, which Wolfson attributed to two things: the books are either "guilt gifts" parents take home to their children after playing in Vegas or are for children visiting the city, which has become family-friendly in recent years.
In a locked case, the Reading Room offers rare books ranging in price from $500 to as high as $15,000, "which gives us a little specialty." The store also sells some sidelines, including special handmade cards.
The Reading Room is located at 3930 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas, Nev. 89119; 702-632-9374.