Dec. 5, 2018

Moving day is a familiar chapter in the story of S&S Books, which began in Sioux Falls in 1980.

The original store was at 28th Street and Minnesota Avenue, and as the business grew, it subsequently moved six times before temporarily closing in 2016.

The latest location is near the Tea exit on Interstate 29 at 27063 Sunset Blvd., Unit 103.

“It’s been a little slow-going because we had 200,000 books to organize,” said Kari Swalve, who owns the store with her mother, Sandra.

“We’re fully open and ready, and we’re building a website for online shopping.”

S&S Books has been part of their family from the start.

“My mom opened it with my uncle, Steve, because she just loved books,” Swalve said. “It kept growing and growing.”

Steve transitioned out of the business, and Sandra’s husband, Terry, took over the store when her health kept her from working.

“My dad was pretty popular with the customers. They would come in and talk to him for hours,” Swalve said.

Terry died in January 2017.

The store in Sioux Falls, which most recently was at 504 S. Cleveland Ave., closed shortly after that, and the books were put into storage.

Swalve has spent the past year barcoding and organizing the inventory in preparation for launching online sales at ssbooksllc.com in the next month.

The new location outside of town is a two-story space that gives them more room than their last store.

And they need it. The inventory is up to 218,000 books, plus some CDs, and they’re still willing to buy or trade for more.

After being closed for a year, there’s a need for some newer releases, more sci-fi and other popular genres.

“True readers come in and clean out our Western (inventory),” Swalve said. “They buy hundreds at a time.”

Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and Swalve said longtime customers have been enthusiastic as they return to the store.

“They’re very excited we’re open.”