Needful Things For Sale – A Fun Adventure 4

I can now count myself as one of the very lucky clients of a wonderfully bizarre shop called, quite simply, Book Trader. This shop of oddities in Minneapolis has been owned and operated since 1989 by Lynn “Fluffy” Murray.

As soon as we walked through the front door, we were greeted with a muted “Hello” and “Welcome” from Fluffy, who sat tucked into a corner behind the front counter. Wearing a colorful Hawaiian shirt, a pair of wild shorts, neon pink Crocs, and a tennis sweatband on her forehead, she fit in perfectly with all of the eclectic items that surrounded her. Fluffy was AMAZING! I could have talked with her the entire day! After introducing ourselves and letting her know how we found out about her shop, she ran down the “rules” – which included myriad forms of payment accepted, as well as a lay-away plan! So if I found that ‘Something’ I absolutely could not live without, but couldn’t afford to pay for it at that moment, she would kindly set the item aside as “sold” and take installments until paid in full. Talking slowly and deliberately, there is a wry humor to her delivery. Fluffy knows her clientele, and knows exactly what brings us to her quirky little shop – and she’s not shy about telling you that fact!

I told her how far we drove to get there (about a 2 hour drive), and how excited we were to be there. She told me that we were very lucky to have someone tell us about her shop, because most people keep it a secret. I told her about seeing the photos of her shop and the 360-degree tour and after reading about it, I knew I HAD to go there. I asked her if I could take photos, and she was happy to have me do that. She told us “when you think you’ve gone into all the rooms, come back to the counter and I will show you the ones you missed”. Did anyone ever read the Stephen King novel “Needful Things”? Oh my! It was so much like that.

I talked with her at great length and almost felt like I was under a spell. I know that sounds odd, but it’s true. It was weird and strange and different… yet kind of cool at the same time. Maybe it was the growing anticipation of seeing this odd treasure of a shop, then actually stepping foot inside? I’m not sure. But I honestly felt like I had fallen into a rabbit hole and landed in Wonderland. Time seemed to stand still inside her shop – I seriously thought we had only been there for maybe close to an hour, but when we emerged and I looked at my watch, I was dumbfounded to see we had been there for 3 hours! Secretly, I think she’s found a way to bend time somehow. LOL. Fluffy freely admits that customers can stand in one area for 10-minutes looking at everything in that single spot – then come back a moment later and still notice things they missed the first time.

My husband and my youngest son were with me, and we were the only shoppers in the store. The aisles to move around inside the store are extremely narrow – some only about 18” wide, others blocked completely. We had to walk single-file in most places. If someone wanted to get a closer look at something at the end of the aisle, there was no passing possible. We all had to back out until a nook or cranny allowed someone to tuck in and exchange positions. Crazy, right? In some spots, stacks of books, oddities and antiques forced us to backtrack and go around to a different approach in order to explore the unreachable treasures. I’m not claustrophobic, but the thought crossed my mind that I now know the feeling of having “the walls closing in on you”. Books stacked floor to ceiling gave the uneasy feeling that the slightest misstep would cause a colossal toppling of shelves like so many Dominoes.

The store was as cluttered as you see in the photos, yet everything was still strangely organized. I picked up on her organization method right away. Creepy medical here, western and cowboy stuff there, nautical items in the corner, etc.

Our every move was under constant scrutiny by the myriad taxidermy animals everywhere. I swear I could feel them watching us. They were actually pretty cool – and I don’t typically like taxidermy. See! I was under the spell!

As its name implies, this place has more books per square foot than I have ever seen. From current best-sellers, to rare first editions, to very old books. And in every subject you can imagine… romance novels, military field guides, autobiographies – every genre is represented. Intermixed with all of the books are odd treasures, artifacts, and collectibles – including a Saco De Toro… a container made out of, yep, a bull’s scrotum. I think my husband was seriously considering putting that thing on lay-away. The prices were what I expected – pretty much full retail on everything. Fluffy said she doesn’t use the internet, but her pricing was pretty spot-on for the things she had, that I would have liked to have in my shop – more phrenology and acupuncture stuff than I can count, old microscopes and science kits, so many mannequin torsos and hands! All very cool stuff.

When we were checking out, Fluffy asked exactly where we were from. She knows of a very popular truck stop about 30 minutes from us and their famous caramel rolls (most people in Minnesota know about this place, so I wasn’t surprised). I told her next time we come to her shop, I will bring her one of the treats, to which she immediately replied “Bring me two! I will make you a great deal!”

The phone rang as we were walking out the door. Fluffy took the call and we were looking at everything we didn’t see as we walked into the shop (how did we miss this stuff? It was like stuff was being put on the shelves by themselves after we had already looked over everything). When she got off the phone she said “That was Mark – the guy who wrote the article that you saw and the guy who took the 360-degree photos. I haven’t heard from him in years. How strange that he would call while you are in the shop, since it was his article that made you decide to come visit today.” Can you say ‘creepy’!?

This is one of those rare places that leave you feeling like you’ve entered another dimension in space and time (queue up the Twilight Zone music). A place where anyone with a sense of adventure, and curiosity about curious things, NEEDS to visit.

I took a bunch of photos, several of which I am sharing here, but be warned that pictures can NOT do justice to the experience of seeing this shop in person. If you find yourself in Minneapolis with several spare hours, do not pass up the opportunity to stop in the Book Trader. Say ‘Hello’ to Fluffy for us, and tell her we’ll be back soon (with caramel rolls)!