Shutdown 2: The Squeakquel
Hello, friends! As we head into another shutdown, Uncharted Books will once again be closing our doors for browsing in the interest of public safety. We will be offering some new options for your holiday shopping, including curbside pickup, text shopping, private shopping appointments, mystery boxes, and more! As always, we appreciate your patience and support as we take the necessary measures to slow the spread of Covid. Here are the details for how you can continue to stay connected and shop with us:
Curbside Pickup
Uncharted Books will be open for contactless curbside pickup on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 11-7 (beginning Thursday Nov 19th). Curbside pickup is available for items purchased from our online store, including mystery boxes, gift certificates, and rare books. You can also email contact@unchartedbooks.com or text us at 312-627-9090 to order new books or see if we have a particular title in stock.
Custom Mystery Boxes
Our biggest seller! Purchase a mystery box from our online store, and we will email you a fun questionnaire. Your answers will guide our booksellers to hand-select five used books we think you’ll enjoy, carefully packed with stickers and surprises, and available for curbside pickup or shipped to your door. We love making these boxes and put a lot of love and care into them, and the feedback we’ve received from customers really reflects how fun and personal these are.
If you want to give the gift of a mystery box to someone else, you can purchase a handmade gift voucher that contains a custom link to the questionnaire for the recipient to fill out. The cards are made from pages of (damaged) antique books and sealed with a wax stamp. They make a gorgeous, personalized gift for anyone, especially people who are hard to shop for!
Text Message Shopping
As elder millennials, we despise talking on the phone, and we aren’t too crazy about the inefficiency of filling orders via email. Now you can text us with questions, requests, or orders! Our text-only number is 312-627-9090. This is the ideal way to check if we have something in stock, to place an order for new books, or to ask general questions. After you text, one of our booksellers will get back to you as soon as possible. We may not be able to answer certain questions right away -- such as checking our stock for a particular book -- if we are not present in the store that day, so please be patient!
Appointment Shopping
Our physical storefront will be open by appointment only Saturdays, Thursdays, and Mondays from 11-7. Customers may email contact@unchartedbooks.com or text 312-627-9090 to set up a 30 minute shopping appointment. During your appointment window, there will be one bookseller there to assist you (if you wish) and the whole store to yourself. You can browse, sit, read, or do whatever you like! We may be able to accommodate additional guests from your household or “bubble,” but this must be discussed at the time of booking. Everyone must follow standard Covid-prevention procedures, such as wearing a mask, using hand sanitizer, and remaining 6 feet away from our booksellers and other parties.
When you book your appointment, you will be required to make a non-refundable $25 deposit which will count towards any books you decide to purchase (or can be used as store credit later). These deposits go to ensure that we are able to continue paying our employees their full wages in the absence of any government support for small businesses. The 30 minute appointment windows are not flexible, as we need time to sanitize the store between appointments.
Zoom Shopping
You can now make an appointment to shop our store via Zoom! Zoom shopping hours will be Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 11-7. Customers may email contact@unchartedbooks.com or text 312-627-9090 to set up a Zoom shopping appointment. Basically, we’ll walk around the store holding a laptop and show you any books or sections that look interesting to you. When you make a purchase, you can come pick it up during our curbside pickup hours or have it shipped to your door!
Gift Wrapping and Holiday Specials
Uncharted Books is now offering gift wrapping for book and mystery box orders, available for curbside pickup or shipping. We also have physical and online gift certificates, as well as beautiful, hand-made mystery box gift voucher which give your recipient a way to customize their own box!
Book Donations
Though our physical store is closed for browsing, we're still accepting contactless book donations. Details about what kinds of books we are and aren’t able to accept are available here.
In order to donate, visit us during our curbside pickup hours and place your books outside the door in boxes or bags that you're able to leave with us. Once you've piled your books by the door, call us at 872-208-7021 to let us know there's a donation outside and we'll come and retrieve it. Your donations help us keep our doors open during this bonkers time and we could not appreciate your generosity more. We hope to be able to return to book buying in the future.