GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. – When you come to Shaw’s books in Grosse Pointe Park, it’s like stepping back in time.
There are no Kindles, no e-readers, instead there are real books and there are 25,000 of them.
Hank Zuchowski is the book guy, the guru, the curator of each and every single piece inside Shaw’s Books on Kercheval.
The former GM Employee has always loved books. Back in the 80s, he went to his first book fair.
“My booth fee was $75 and I sold $104worth of books,” Zuchowski said. “So obviously I didn’t make a dime.”
But, that didn’t deter him, mainly because he kept his day job at first. Zuchowski began going to more and more book fairs and has been all over the world mining for treasures.
“My oldest book here is from 1599,” he said.
Zuchowski said after he accomplished three goals, he would retire.
“I wanted to make sure I didn’t hurt my family in any way doing this, so I made sure my house was paid for, this building [on Kercheval] was paid for and we paid for our kids’ college tuition,” he said.
Well, he did all three, so afterward he was free to follow his passion and open up his bookstore. The store has seven rooms, 25,000 books in every genre, and he has some specialty items.
Zuchowski is open two days a week and available for appointments. His customer base is solely from word of mouth. He said his favorite piece in the shop is a 2nd edition Robinson Caruso published three weeks after the first.
Zuchowski said everything you see with a price tag is for sale. Coming in a looking is free of charge.
Shaw’s Books is located at 14932 Kercheval Avenue in Grosse Pointe Park. For appointments: 313-824-4932.