Kaleidoscope Books & Collectibles
Owner Jeff Pickell
AboutI grew up in Brooklyn, NY, at a time when every neighbor paid attention to every kid on the block. It was a world enmeshed in the culture of books, stickball and street hockey, churches and synagogues, families and kids. Both of my parents had professional careers, which was unusual in the 1950s. My father was a CPA, my mother an artist and interior designer. On her days off, my mother would “drag” me to antique stores, flea markets, and garage sales. To stay engaged, I started collecting baseball cards and books, especially science fiction. I continued collecting until my freshman year at Harpur College in Binghamton, the best state school in New York state. I left my collections at home.
On my first freshman-year visit home, I was astounded to find that my mother had given away my entire collection. Complete sets of Topp’s baseball cards from 1954 through 1966 and my precious comic collection including early Marvel comics were nowhere in sight. Only my hand-made marbles survived the onslaught of my mother’s cleaning. I walked away from that shock and returned to school, where I developed interests in political activism and education. I became a school teacher and then school principal at a residential children’s treatment center, where I would sometimes take my students to flea markets and garage sales—outings that reignited my collector’s passion. After about ten years, I switched professions for a brief run with New York’s garment industry as a national retail clothing rep. As lucrative as it was, I soon realized that working for a billion-dollar corporation was not a good fit for a former 1960s hippy. By the mid-’80s, I returned to education for another six years, working with delinquent and emotionally disturbed kids. |
After 26 years, Jeff Pickell has decided to retire his storefront and sell his inventory exclusively online. You can find his bookstore online at abebooks.com
Genre & SpecialtyScience Fiction, Mysteries, Children’s Literature, Modern Firsts, and Postcards.
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Indie Interview
What inspired you to open a bookstore? During the transition from corporate sales to education, I returned to old hobbies—singing and acting, collecting, racquetball and baseball. I was cast in a musical called Our Time of Day, music by Morris Lawrence and book by Elise Bryant who also directed it. The woman who played my twenty-something daughter, was in reality only 19 days younger than I and, in less than a year, would be my wife. She soon encouraged my dream of opening a bookstore, which was fulfilled when KB&C opened in September 1990.
The week we opened, I sent my mother a mock “bill” for $50,000, the 1990 value of my collection she had given away 25 years prior, and our store’s slogan became: We sell everything your mother (& father) made you throw away.
How do you think being a specialized bookstore has helped your business over the years? I deal strictly in used and rare (antiquarian) books. My specialties are science fiction, mysteries, children’s literature, modern firsts, and post cards. But I’m also a generalist, offering rock posters, 18th and 19th Century prints, and other memorabilia from all periods that suit the interests of children and adults of all ages.
I’ve read comments online from people from San Francisco to New York, the Philippines and Germany, that Kaleidoscope is unique in this genre.
What has been your favorite part of owning and/or working in a bookstore? I love the independence and, as a collector, I delight in being among all these treasures every day.
Interacting with people has always been a passion with me. I’m a storyteller by nature, and the bookstore gives me an open stage every day. My best days are the ones punctuated by dozens of customers and enriching conversation.
I’ve also been surprised and pleased to welcome many high-profile people who have purchased books at Kaleidoscope, from Alexander McCall Smith and Gregory Maguire, Elmore Leonard, Loren Estleman and Jonathan Lethem, to Patrick Stewart and the rest of the 2005 Royal Shakespeare Company visiting cast, Sweet Honey and the Rock, George McGovern, two or three dozen members of the Berlin Philharmonic, and individuals like Kate Hudson and Ben Harper, Judd Hirsch and Hilary Swank.
What has been your greatest challenge running a bookstore? The seven-day workweek is a great challenge. Also, the economics of bookselling have changed drastically in the past 25 years, especially in terms of technology, both in content delivery and sales patterns.
What role do you think books and bookstores play in the culture of Ann Arbor? We help Ann Arbor fulfill its reputation as an intellectual and cultural hub. As a community that prioritizes knowledge, Ann Arbor is a traditional destination for books and those who seek them among the area’s broadly diverse bookstores.
How would you describe your store to someone who has never visited? A potpourri of popular culture of today and yesterday.
The week we opened, I sent my mother a mock “bill” for $50,000, the 1990 value of my collection she had given away 25 years prior, and our store’s slogan became: We sell everything your mother (& father) made you throw away.
How do you think being a specialized bookstore has helped your business over the years? I deal strictly in used and rare (antiquarian) books. My specialties are science fiction, mysteries, children’s literature, modern firsts, and post cards. But I’m also a generalist, offering rock posters, 18th and 19th Century prints, and other memorabilia from all periods that suit the interests of children and adults of all ages.
I’ve read comments online from people from San Francisco to New York, the Philippines and Germany, that Kaleidoscope is unique in this genre.
What has been your favorite part of owning and/or working in a bookstore? I love the independence and, as a collector, I delight in being among all these treasures every day.
Interacting with people has always been a passion with me. I’m a storyteller by nature, and the bookstore gives me an open stage every day. My best days are the ones punctuated by dozens of customers and enriching conversation.
I’ve also been surprised and pleased to welcome many high-profile people who have purchased books at Kaleidoscope, from Alexander McCall Smith and Gregory Maguire, Elmore Leonard, Loren Estleman and Jonathan Lethem, to Patrick Stewart and the rest of the 2005 Royal Shakespeare Company visiting cast, Sweet Honey and the Rock, George McGovern, two or three dozen members of the Berlin Philharmonic, and individuals like Kate Hudson and Ben Harper, Judd Hirsch and Hilary Swank.
What has been your greatest challenge running a bookstore? The seven-day workweek is a great challenge. Also, the economics of bookselling have changed drastically in the past 25 years, especially in terms of technology, both in content delivery and sales patterns.
What role do you think books and bookstores play in the culture of Ann Arbor? We help Ann Arbor fulfill its reputation as an intellectual and cultural hub. As a community that prioritizes knowledge, Ann Arbor is a traditional destination for books and those who seek them among the area’s broadly diverse bookstores.
How would you describe your store to someone who has never visited? A potpourri of popular culture of today and yesterday.
