Bookseller Brad Stephenson is celebrating the 30th anniversary of BDS Books with discounts on the 100,000-plus used titles in his store at 1200 First Ave. N. in Fargo. (Photo/Nancy Hanson.)

A customer browses among BDS Books’ vast collection of quality used books of every genre — fiction and nonfiction, children’s and adult, hardcover and paperback, well-aged and current. (Photo/Nancy Hanson)

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

Some booksellers are inspired to surround themselves with the printed word because reading is their passion. For Brad Stephenson, it was strictly a business decision. Now, 30 years since he shelved his first used volumes, it turns out to have been a pretty good one.
Brad owns B.D.S. Books at 1200 First Ave. N. in Fargo, where his stock of 100,000 volumes promises fans of every possible genre a deep dive into titles that will delight them. “There’s at least another 100,000 in the basement,” the 70-year-old business man hints. “The joy of this business is helping people find what they’re searching for. And if they can’t find it here, I can probably figure out how to track it down.
The used-book magnate is celebrating the thirtieth year of his business this month with 30% discounts on every volume in his vast stock of old, medium and recent publications. From children’s titles that grandparents remember reading as a kid to entire series of mysteries, thrillers, science fiction and romances, and from cookbooks and auto manuals to philosophy and religion, hardcovers and paperbacks crowd his domain – something relevant for literally everyone who steps through its door.
The Stephenson saga started in 1995 after a change in administrations in Bismarck left Brad out of a job. “I had to make a living,” he points out. When other job offers were not forthcoming and his unemployment was running out, he decided to create his own. He drove from his farmstead 15 miles north of Breckenridge to Wahpeton, where he asked city officials what new business they’d like to see in their town.
“Their first answer was a bookstore,” he recalls. “They were thinking of one that sold new books, but I researched a bit and found their trade area was probably not big enough to support that. But selling used books … that seemed feasible.”
He rented a spot downtown, built his own shelves, started gathering stock and opened on June 1, 1995. Six years later, when his rent was about to double, he headed north to Fargo, where he bought Duane Johnson’s venerable used book shop on Broadway.
He moved to its present location in 2007. “This is the former site of Crown Billiards,” he points out. “Boy, are there stories!”
Brad’s only retail experience was a part-time job in J.C. Penney’s while attending Valley City State College (now University). “I found a couple books on the business,” he says. “The most valuable advice I got was from spending days with Duane Johnson.”
Not all was helpful. He remembers asking how Johnson organized his merchandise. “How do I classify them?” he responded. “I put them wherever they fit.”
While Brad chose a less chaotic approach – nonfiction sorted by topic and fiction by author – he says the older bookseller shared the wisdom that has sustained him: “How much to pay when a box of books comes in, and how much to sell it for when it goes out,” he says, grinning. “As long as you sell ‘em for more than you paid for them, you’re doing okay.”
Acquiring books to sell, though, doesn’t always mean negotiating in dollars. “I always suggest trading,” he says. “There’s more value in books than cash.” He adds, “Right now, our whole generation is getting stuff out of the house. Sometimes it’s like, ‘Here’s a pickup load of books. Want ‘em?’”
He’ll be the first to admit that selling used books isn’t the dream job some book lovers might imagine. “This is work,” he states flatly. “You carry the boxes in, kill a spider or two, clean them up, maybe repair them, find space on the shelf. People come in at random times, or don’t. You can’t leave – you’ve got to be here.
“The fun part of this business is the joy of helping customers find something. They may not even know what they’re looking for – one with a blue cover, maybe, that they remember their teacher reading back when they were in elementary school. When I can help them find it, it makes their day.”
After 30 years behind the counter, Brad is looking for the next man or woman to take on the challenge of what unexpectedly became his life’s work. B.D.S. Books is for sale – if the right buyer comes along. “I need to sell the place to the right person,” he muses. “Fargo will never get another store like this if this one closes.”
What’s his plan for retirement? “I have a whole lot of books I want to read, especially big series,” Brad says. “All I have to do is get out of this business with my eyesight and my sanity.”