Building a Summer Reading Library One Warehouse Sale At a Time

Summer is just around the corner, and while it brings a lot of outdoor time, it also means that we’ll be indoors hiding from the sun and heat at some point. And we’ll be working on our reading skills, so I need a stash of fresh books to keep my little book lover happy. We’ll be visiting the library and hitting story times, but before summer is here, I’ll be hitting one of my favorite sales, the Scholastic Warehouse Sale.

I first shared my love of the warehouse sale with you before the holidays. May brings another sale our way, and as I’m prepping to find cool books at great prices, I wanted to share some tips with you again. After all, what mom doesn’t love a good bargain?? And when those bargains help keep your kids entertained and learning, even better, right?? I also use the warehouse sale as an opportunity to grab a few books to have ready for those last-minute birthday party gifts.

As I shared before, I have a ravenous book lover in my house. We can go through a bag of library books in no time, and he has favorites he wants to hear again and again. His current obsession is Star Wars, including a Scholastic set that focuses on phonics, so we both win when we read those together. I’m happy to feed his addiction, and the Scholastic Warehouse Sale makes it easy.

Considering that I’ve been buying from Scholastic since I was old enough to bug my mom for money for the book fair, this logo has been a friend of mine for a long time!

I admit that my heart leaps when I get the email about the upcoming sale. I immediately mark it on my calendar and make plans to shop. Rows and rows and shelves and shelves of books, all new, just waiting for you to crack the spine and dig in. The warehouse sale is heaven for any book lover or the parent of any book lover. And it’s just off of IH-35 in Schertz.

The upcoming sales in the San Antonio area are May 3–4 at the Leon Valley Conference Center and May 9–21 at the Schertz warehouse. For exact addresses and information, visit the big event warehouse sale site.

To answer a few questions that came up when I first shared information about the warehouse sale, no, you do not have to be school staff or a book fair volunteer to attend the sale. Scholastic regularly promotes the sales at events around town and welcomes everyone to attend. Yes, they ask you to register online (that’s how I now get the emails about upcoming sales) and, in return, you receive a coupon for the sale. If you don’t pre-register, they’ll ask for your email when you enter the sale so they can contact you about future sales.

When you register online, they ask you to identify the school with which you’re affiliated. My son’s preschool participates with Scholastic, so that’s what I select when I register. The list of participating schools is extremely long, so don’t be surprised if your school is included. And homeschooling parents are more than welcome as well. There’s a “homeschool” option to select in the registration area.

The May sale is the second of the two large annual sales and is held as many schools are holding their final book fairs of the year, so stock varies. Sales staff will tell you to come back later in the sale to be sure you don’t miss anything and yes, I listen to their advice. (Remember, I openly admitted my book and warehouse sale addiction already. I have no shame!)

The books you’ll find range from infant through teen, with everything from board and picture books to ‘tween fiction, as well as cookbooks, history books, adult fiction, and more. Not everything you see in the Scholastic flyers in your child’s backpack is available at the warehouse, though you’ll see many familiar titles. If there’s a specific title you’re looking for, there’s a terrific binder at the sale that helps you find that item’s exact location in the warehouse. If the book’s not in the binder, it’s not in the warehouse. The sale’s very friendly and extremely helpful volunteer staff can point you in the right direction.

A peek at some of my warehouse finds.
A peek at some of my warehouse finds.

Like most warehouse sales, you never know what you’re going to find. Prices start at 20% off, but most items are 50% off. Some items are discounted up to 80%, a real steal. Some things are $1 or $2, and there’s usually a “build a box” section where everything you can fit in the box they provide is a set price, usually $20–$25. When you consider that hardcover books can be $19.99 a piece, the box deal can be a boon—if you’re interested in the books included in that area.

If you want to check out the sale for yourself, dive in. I’ve only visited the warehouse, so I can’t give you details on the other location, but I give the warehouse a big thumbs up. The May sale is at the Schertz location is May 9–21. The warehouse is open weekdays from 10:00 A.M.–7:00 P.M. and Saturdays from 9:00 A.M.–5:00 P.M.; it is closed on Sundays.

The local warehouse is located at 5925 Tri-County Parkway, Suite 160, in Schertz. From IH-35, you take exit 175 (FM 3009) and get on the southbound access road. Take a left onto Tri-County Parkway just before Starbucks. Scholastic is in a white warehouse row on your left, usually with a big red Scholastic sign out front. You’ll drive down the side of the warehouse and park in the back before entering the building. If the weather is nice, the warehouse doors will be open. Don’t be shy—just walk on in.

And to repeat a few tips I shared before:

  • Visit http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/warehouse to find warehouse sales near you (there are more than 230 across the state of Texas alone) and register. You’ll then receive reminder emails and coupons: $10 off of your $50 purchase or $25 off of your $100 purchase. Think that sounds crazy? Just wait. When you start filling out your gift list and stocking up for the littles—and the adults—in your life, you’ll be grateful for the coupon. By the way, credit cards, checks, purchase orders, and Scholastic Dollars are all accepted at the sale.
  • If you know the titles or series you’re interested in, bring the names with you. There’s a huge binder you can look through that identifies the exact location of each book in the warehouse, telling you the row and shelf to find what you’re looking for. You’ll still want to browse through each aisle to find things you had no idea you needed/wanted, but knowing exactly where to find items on your list is terrific. If you’re not sure where to begin, you can browse Scholastic’s offerings online. You can even shop by flyer if you want to see books recommended by age group.
  • Go comfortable. It is a warehouse, so wear comfortable shoes and know it can be hot or cold depending on the weather.
  • Be nice. While this is a shopping opportunity for you, warehouse staff is working around you to fill orders and restock shelves. Book fair merchandise is constantly being prepped or restocked, so it’s busy. The staff is always courteous and will help you find items if there’s something in particular you’re looking for—they know the stock and have made great recommendations upon seeing other things I was buying. But they are working, so try not to disrupt them or get in the way. The people staffing the check-out area and help table are usually volunteers and are also extremely knowledgeable and helpful, so be nice to them, too.
  • Don’t bring kids. You’re more than welcome to—and older kids will love picking out books—but if your littles are like mine, you’ll have to buy one of everything you see and stay in the warehouse until they lock the doors because we MUST. SEE. MORE. BOOKS.

And most importantly, have fun! There’s nothing I enjoy more than browsing through books and looking for treasures I know we’ll read again and again. Hope you find some terrific books for your own little library!

Dawn
An Army brat who came to Texas for college and ultimately managed to make the Lone Star State her permanent home, Dawn became a mom “AMA” (advanced maternal age), giving her the opportunity to use a stroller vs. a walker as she navigates the world of motherhood. Her growing up way too fast native Texan loves all things Star Wars, Legos, dinosaurs and keeping his parents on their toes. When she’s not busy parenting the original strong-willed child, Dawn runs Tale to Tell Communications, a San Antonio-based PR and marketing agency. An award-winning writer, Dawn also contributes to San Antonio Woman, Rio Magazine and Texas Lifestyle Magazine. She and her family enjoy exploring all that San Antonio has to offer, going on adventures and playing tourist together as much as possible. Favorite Restaurant: Clementine Favorite Landmark: The beauty of the River Walk, especially La Villita Favorite San Antonio Tradition: Celebrating anything and everything with color, music and food

2 COMMENTS

  1. Scholastic book fairs were one of my favorite school events each year as a kid, and the warehouse sale sounds like a bigger version of the book fair! Thanks for the heads-up; I’ll be sharing this post with my readers. 😀

    • Terrific! I love sharing deal news–thrifty moms need to stick together!! And book fairs were awesome, though now that I’m the mom being bugged to buy EVERYTHING on the shelf, I understand why my mother got so frustrated with all of my requests!

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