The Indie Bob Spot: Reliant Bookstore

Reliant Bookstore, El Dorado, KS

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In my 582 previous bookstore visits, I’ve experienced nothing like the Reliant Bookstore in El Dorado, KS. Normal adjectives escape me and I failed to find words to define what I observed and learned. I settled for incredulous and finally landed on speechless. I met Jesse, who owns the business along with brothers Samuel, Stephen, and good friend Levi. This place is an operation, a machine. Most of their sales are made online and are available on multiple platforms. They sell approximately 500 books/day and take in 1-2 semis of used books/week (no wonder they own a couple of forklifts!). At one time, the business was operating two shifts/day but they’ve backed off of that model for now. This bookstore began as an online store only in May 2019 and only opened its brick and mortar in the last 2 1/2 years. The brick and mortar is merely the tip of the iceberg for the store and the business. Because of how the business began, it has very little widespread recognition. But I’m here to tell you this place is on a hot rocket ride to a large scale, book-selling business.

The headquarters for the store is the building that was home to the local newspaper, The El Dorado Times. The building sat empty for years until Jesse and his brothers decided it would be right for the Reliant Bookstore. This beautiful and modern looking building provides a large warehouse with a shipping and receiving dock, and a spacious basement level with wall to wall shelves for storage, and a very attractive bookstore space in the front of the building. They have additional storage off-site at another warehouse, the West Warehouse. All told, they have approximately 115,000 books and it’s growing (just since my visit I’m confident saying the total has surpassed this).

Can you have a good bookstore experience here? Absolutely! Neat, well-organized, and comfortable seating are appealing to any visitor. If you’re a writer, consider coming to the store for The Writer’s Club. Or if Dungeons & Dragons is your thing, come to the store and enjoy that activity. Do you want to bring your used books to Reliant? Come on down! Your credit/cash won’t be determined by the titles or number of books though. You’ll get your compensation by how much your books weigh. They pay by the pound!

Jesse is as enthusiastic as any owner I’ve met. Part of that energy is because I can tell he works his butt off. If you’re in the El Dorado area this is a MUST SEE. Get in on the ground floor now and visit this terrific bookstore, a store and business that I can guarantee has big things ahead. Go to an indie and buy a book. Bonsoir.

JUST FINISHED: A Winter's Rime, Carol Dunbar. Another in a long line of super Wisconsin authors that I enjoy. Mallory had a dysfunctional childhood, dysfunctional parents, dysfunctional school friends, and dysfunctional relationships. She places the blame for everything on herself and must eventually learn how to turn this around and deal with her anger management. One of my favorite things in this book is her job at Speed Stop, an obvious comparison to an upper Midwest convenience store fixture found in almost every town, Kwik Stop.

CURRENTLY READING: The Pony Express Rides On, Mabel Loving.

Beautiful storefront and former home of The El Dorado Times.

Looking straight into the bookstore from the front entrance.

Looking to the left from the front entrance.

Looking to the right from the front entrance.

Look for this llama and find the game created by the Reliant staff.

Head to the far left and enjoy this wall of books.

A great place to lounge with a beverage and a book to the far left back of the store.

A perfect place for games, clubs, or activities.

Below this sign are many games you can play when you visit.

Head to the right side of the store for this browsing.

Prices are posted.

Locally created candles.

Two of my favorites which would pair well with any book.

You can also find music on vinyl.

Overview of the warehouse behind the bookstore area.

At one time, all of these boxes were filled with books. This is another partial view of the warehouse.

The basement level is packed with aisles of books.

Another overview of the lower level.

Yes, photographic evidence that this bookstore actually owns a forklift.

One of the reasons this building sat empty so long is because of this hole between two floors. This picture shows the basement level looking up to the lights on the first floor.

This blue tank container was part of the newspaper business and was where the ink for the papers was held. There is still ink in this tank today. Reliant will part with this and interested parties should contact them for details.