James Bleeker and the Used Bookstore

James L. Bleeker, clad in plaid, and a smile on his face, greets patrons with a friendly "hello" as they enter into his store, Argos Book Shop.

Argos, located at 1405 Robinson, has been one Grand Rapids main used book vendors since 1975, a 35 year project that James has been a part of since 1986.

"I started working for the previous owner [Ray Walsh] in 1986," Bleeker said. "I was an employee for 20 years, and then bought it in 2006, and have been the owner about four years."

The books that they carry are much older.

"We have 1000's of antique books, some from the 19th and 18th centuries, and we have books from just about any category: religion, sci-fi, history, military," said Bleeker.

The only brand new material in the store are the comic books. Argos receives shipments of new comics every Wednesday from the various publishing houses.

Books don't always move at a predicted speed, and Bleeker revealed that while some books may be sold the same day they're purchased, while others sit, and sit, and sit. He estimated that some of the books in their science fiction section have been there since 1978.

Argos was originally founded by Ray Walsh, who originally started his used book business from his college dorm room at Michigan State, according to Bleeker.

When Walsh grew out of his dorm room, he expanded into a used bookstore in East Lansing called Curious Book Shop. Then, after opening up at least one other used book shop in that region, Walsh brought his business to Grand Rapids.

Bleeker doesn't necessarily have any visions of expansion in the near future. He seems quite content with what he has. And as far as having his main competition right next door, Bleeker doesn't seem phased.

"There's a lot of overlap in used books, and Redux often carries different books than I do," said Bleeker, explaining that the two stores filter business into each other.

Rather than competing over prices for the cheaper set of New York Times' bestsellers, they just send customers on. They're working together in this world of vintage, rather than competing to block each other out.