I love this place so much !! Truly unique items I don't see at other places near me, I literally drive 1hr to come here. The store owners are super kind and sometimes add freebies. They stock this place w/ new inventory all the time. Prices are so good as well. read more

Kingstone Bookstore - pingu blind box - Bookstores Near Me - Richmond, California

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My go-to supplier for Sonny Angels, Smiskis, and mofusand figurines on top of so many other cute gifts for friends (or yourself). From plushies and keychains to blind boxes and decorations, there is a reason this business has rightfully earned so much of my money. They post a lot of helpful content on their Instagram account to keep you up-to-date on what is in stock. The staff is super friendly and do their best to give you a heads up on when new shipments are coming in. They are definitely worth making the trek from the El Cerrito Plaza and prices are reasonable to original price compared to other retailers (and arguably a better deal since you do not have to deal with shipping). Love them so much read more

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I love this store so much they have many sunny angels and some smiskis! The lady at the counter was really nice great service. They also had a very good selection of Sunny angels and the value of them is very high for the price that they give is very reasonable. read more

Kingstone Bookstore - Sonny angels - Bookstores Near Me - Richmond, California

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Glad to see I'm not the only one. Discriminated because I'm not Asian. They didn't know I had google translate on my AirPods and could understand every word they were saying. Racism to the max. Will not be giving them my business ever again. Rude old lady and middle aged miserable woman with long flat hair black t shirt. Disgusting. read more

The plug for sonny angel, smiskis, stickers, and everything cute! They have just the right selection and all priced very fairly. My friends who grew up in the East Bay are loyal to Kingstone. The long-running bookstore is ran by sweet and friendly people! It's tucked in the mall, where there's lots of seating outside to eat and take time to look over your cute buys. read more

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I hope this place stays here forever!! I love this place and I enjoy it more that I can come here and then do my food shopping. I usually come here to get my planner for the year, and also some toys, Keychains or stickers. The owners are really sweet people. We have been coming here for over 5 years. Most of the stuff is reasonable price but some are expensive and way out of my budget. I did however splurge myself on a couple of Studio Ghibli items though. We also bought out kids baby blankets from here. Easy parking, happy lemon (milk tea) is around the corner, and food options. read more

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was on a little road trip and saw this mall area. went in and saw this bookstore that I've been thinking about since forever! I haven't been since I was a kid, or about ten years ago. i wasn't aware of the times and they were about to close, but the very kind cashier let me and my sister browse for a bit. there was an amazing selection of toys, but I managed to make it as quick as I could. she was very patient and answered every one of my questions. the nostalgia of the place hit hard, and I was so happy to be greeted once again with kindness. I will definitely be back, thank you so much. read more

Such a good selection of blind boxes at reasonable prices!! Also, so many other cute doo dads like stickers, pens and stationary. Service is good; they're very nice! read more

They have a lot of cute toys and collectibles here. My daughter loves this store and they are very friendly and kind.

I get Sonny angels, pingu, monchichi, TnT space and a lot of other collectibles for a really good price! The owners are nice and the store is really clean and they restock regularly! I just found out about this place but I've been coming in regularly lol :) read more

Wow this store is so amazing with all their gift products! They also hold many real licensed Sanrio goods. Great items and real Pokémon cards! Service was quick and packed up nicely. They also gave my kids bath bombs for free. We will be back! read more

Kingstone Bookstore - Bookstores Near Me - Richmond, California

Kingstone Bookstore has been around for decades! Whenever my family would go to Pacific East Mall when I was a kid, a visit to Kingstone Bookstore was in order. The owners have an eye for finding high quality and cute items from East Asian pop culture, such as anime bags, star paper, Asian pop CDs, Ghibli puzzles, cute stationary, Chinese books, and so so much more. It'd probably be a great place to find a gift for your friend obsessed with East Asian culture. I literally bought a Gudetama seat belt protector today from them. Highly recommend dropping by! read more

Very kind people, always feel welcomed when I come here. Great family owned business, definitely recommend! There's a lot of selection of different kinds of anime/toys/books etc. Their items aren't overpriced neither, great store! read more

I love it here! Everything is so cute -- it's like Japantown without having to go to San Francisco! They have a wide selection of Sanrio goods, as well as books and other trinkets! They're always so nice there and willing to answer questions as needed. read more

How can I put this...? This store is truly one of the finest establishments I have had the pleasure of visiting in the Pacific East mall. The assortment of items available is simply exquisite, encompassing a wide range of offerings such as stationery, plushes, CDs, albums, posters, and more. The level of service provided is nothing short of impeccable, with the workers exhibiting remarkable sweetness and kindness. This store holds a lot of value to me. I wholeheartedly recommend paying a visit to this establishment whenever you find yourself at the Pacific East mall. read more

Kingstone Bookstore - giant totoro!! - Bookstores Near Me - Richmond, California

I saw some cute stuff at the display window and ran in. There used to be so many stores like this in my area but they all closed down so I'm glad I found one here. I bought hello kitty baby in the car sticker, HK cards, HK red envelopes, birthday card and Naruto fridge magnets. I had so much fun browsing and debating what I'm taking home! If you're into this stuff be sure to stop by. It's inside the plaza. Plenty of parking spaces. They accept credit cards. read more

Kingstone Bookstore - Goodies I bought - Bookstores Near Me - Richmond, California

Love this store but 9 out of 10 times we come all the way they're closed!!! No opening time on the door too... even 5pm on a Sunday?! please stick with the time some people travel far just to come buy things, not cool! :( read more

Good variety of items and friendly staff. Items I was looking for were actually cheaper here than on Amazon. Totally recommend if you are in the area. read more

Monchici, Hello Kitty, Sailor Moon, and so much more. Licensed imported slippers, hats, lovies, water bottles, stickers, socks, keychains, posters, Figurines, and Japanese collectibles galore! I spent $$$ on really cute stuff, but the My Melody slippers and baby Monchichi are my favorites. The 11 year old girl deep inside me loves this store. The surrounding mall is great too, grab lunch and some special baked goods or groceries and enjoy. read more

cute local bookstore within the 99 ranch market with typical japanese toys, plushies, and stationary. i was looking for smiski and sonny angel boxes that didn't cost an arm and a leg and stumbled on this bookstore while getting my grocceries. The pricing is insanely reasonable and I love them for it. read more

Everything in here is so cute. Such a fun selection but it is pretty pricey for some items. Seems like legit sanrio and other brands though.

Inside the Mall, before you hit 99 Ranch. You are greeted on the outside by Totoro and its plentifulness. You go inside and then you see a huge Totoro greet you :D There are many other things there that I don't remember but they have a wide variety of stationery, cups, magazines. It's a Chinese bookstore! Kawaiiness at its best. Service is nonexistent because they only acknowledge you when you're paying or have questions for them. (you have to go up to them). They also start closing the store before all the customers leave (we found out that their closing time was 7 when their lights went to half dim- didn't say a word to any of the customers in the store). read more

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Had dim sum at Asian Pearl and then I immediately noticed a Big Bang poster in front of the store. I KNEW I HAD TO CHECK IT OUT. YooooooOoOoo fellow koreaboos, check out the store for BTS, Seventeen, GOT7 posters and goods. They have overpriced albums from all sorts of idol groups available too. I was in absolute heaven. The store has a wide selection of BTS stuff right now!! read more

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Tiny and crowded, but too many oh-so-cute things to squeal over! I remember coming here as a kid. Back then, once I entered Kingstone, the right side of the store would be lined with rows after row of comics (manga, manhua, manhwa) in Chinese. But people would be reading the comics and not purchasing the volumes (like the manga-readers at Barnes and Noble, which I'm totally guilty of too), so probably that's why they no longer carry comics here at Kingstone. Sadface. This place IS a huge place for cute Asian merchandise. Recently, the moment I walked into Kingstone, there would be a ginormous Totoro commanding my attention, surrounded by plushies and lots of anime merchandise (not just plushies, but also keychains, posters, slippers, hats, etc). There are also DVDs of Chinese and Korean dramas, and books in Chinese. I'm always impressed how brightly lit and clean this place is, a HUGE step above dingy Chinatown. Whenever I come to 99 Ranch, I have to stop by here to! read more

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I've been self studying Chinese during covid and I found this bookstore online. So I decided to go over there with my family. I really enjoyed that this bookstore not only sold books, they also sold movies, cartoons, children's books, and lots of cute accessories and stuffed animals. My kids loved the stuffed animals so we went home with a few totoros and plushie backpacks. The boss is a very nice man who was patient and polite. He was very helpful in finding the books that I was looking for. Pros: this is located inside a mall so there is a lot of parking. There is a lot of variety of everything. Cons: while they did have a wide selection of books, there was one series of books that I couldn't find the second book for. read more

Cutest shop! I love all the Sanrio stuff they carry, definitely will come back to this mall again!

It's so cool like I come to Kingston's bookstore almost every week like the best school supplies in ca like it has everyone u need like if ur a K-pop fan u have to go cause their r K-pop posters but they r a little expensive like 4 1 poster it's like 9.99 and the service the best it's like a small mall and there is happy lemon which is a boba shop but still if u ask any costumers for anything they will treat u nicely and it's the best. read more

Happened upon this bookstore/gift shop while shopping at Pacific East mall. Bought my authentic Tortoro plush toy here about 5 years ago. Looking for a retirement present for a coworker. Found a tiny nature themed music box with a wooded animal popping up and a congratulatory note written on it for my present. Delightfully stocked store with lots of Sanrio/Ghibli/anime themed toys all over. I forgot it was a bookstore too. One of a kind merchandise. Love this unique store. read more

Spotted at Kingstone today (which really hasn't changed since 1997) - remnants of a shared US post office space that seems to have gone away - dated Asian pop music CDs from Hong Kong and Taiwan (ie not that popular because the CDs are averaging 6 years old since their release, and collecting dust on the shelf with an A$IAN CHEAPNE$$ MARKUP.....c'mon now, that CD is NOT going to sell at $20 when yesasia dot com can't even get rid of the same one at 5 ish buckeroos less plus shipping) - Taiwanese pressings of Korean & Japanese pop music CDs (who buys these anymore?) - dated tabloid sensation mag rags from Taiwan and Hong Kong - dated Chinese books from Taiwan covering various topics to food, travel, child care, beauty/cosmetics, well being/yoga, Chinese lit, dictionaries - Chinese translated Japanese manga, seemingly for rent - some cutesy stuffed animals, plush dolls, stuff the Asian FOBmeister needs to buy to impress his AZN galpal (or for his own closeted fetish that he can't quite admit to having of collecting such things himself) - Sing Tao, Ming Pao, and World Journal Chinese newspapers - long distance telephone calling cards - DVD movies (Hong Kong, Taiwan, and their pressings of Korean and Japanese movies) at a Kingstone markup They must be sellin' stuff, otherwise they wouldn't be around upwards of 10+ years. read more

Kingstone Bookstore - Bookstores Near Me - Richmond, California

This place has been here ever since I was a child! Their prices are fair and great customer service!

Used to come here a lot for my kpop merch, cute coin banks, mugs, wind chimes, and other stationary & misc. decors. This was my favorite stop at Pacific East Mall as a kid while my parents went grocery shopping at Ranch 99 (haha there I said it) and Shengkee Bakery or when we'd go to Asian Pearl for dim sum/dinner. I used to love window gazing at all the stuffed animals and kpop posters on display. One of the only stores in the East Bay I knew that sold kpop merchandise back in the day. Honestly their things were/are overpriced (compared to SoCal/LA and online), but definitely comes in handy if you want something now/dont want to wait or if you need a gift for a friend asap. Ive bought countless gifts from here over the years, but now that I'm much older I dont stop in as often anymore. read more

The bookstore are a dying breed and it's getting harder to find one. Fortunately, Kingstone has been around for a while and hopefully they'll stay. They do have all the Asian flavors of a bookstore, and much more including movies and music CDs. They also have a good collection of novelty items. Price wise,t hey won't be cheap but then again, I wouldn't mind paying a little more for quality. read more

I love this place! I've been coming here for a loooooooooong time and one of the most exciting things is their revolving stock.. they always have the latest "cute things" and loads of it too. There's a pretty wide selection of comics, and a smaller one of magazines and books, but definitely worth checking out. I've also bought some korean CDs here before and service has always been pretty friendly. The "downside" might be that the aisles are pretty narrow, so I'd suggest coming in before doing your shopping. I used to come to the mall specifically for this store, along with the candy one.. and even now that I've started to actually buy grocery at Ranch 99, I can't help but at least stopped by Kingstone and check out the stickers.. or those adorable plushy octopi (octopuses). Too cute!!! ^_^ read more

Kingstone Bookstore - Cuteness! - Bookstores Near Me - Richmond, California

"Interpretive Dance." A half-dozen heads belonging to our church's high school youth group swiveled in my direction, and the youth director, gave me a look that I had only ever seen once before. We were at Zut! in Berkeley and I had just told him that I didn't share dessert. So yes, it was a look of shock with a tinge of worry because I had just suggested that we do an interpretive dance for Mother's Day. One of our girls had an even better idea, though: "Let's give the moms haircuts!" "Army style!" Another guy chimed in. As they began to feed off one another's creative ideas, I smiled at my perplexed friend who was no doubt kicking himself for inviting me to spend that Sunday with them: "I like the way they think." After a while, we stopped "shooting for the moon" and ultimately "landed among the stars" - almost literally - since we finally settled on making origami lucky stars (http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-lucky-star.html) and chocolate covered strawberries. The only problem was... WHERE WOULD WE GET THE STAR PAPER?! Luckily for me, I have great, Asian with a "z" - AZN - friends that I can text while at work with - "OMG I have no idea where to get star paper in the Berkeley area. Helppp!" Friends who will calmly respond with - "Bookstore near Ranch 99 at the Pacific East Mall, Richmond." So just this past Monday I popped "Pacific East Mall" into the Google Maps app and arrived at a decently sized plaza with all of the necessities: large Azn grocery store (Ranch 99), Azn bakery (Sheng Kee), boba spot (Ten Ren Tea) and... *drumroll, please*... an oasis of cuteness - KINGSTONE BOOKSTORE!!! It's the kind of place that you'll go to for one thing, but will end up looking at EV-ER-Y-THING. I seriously went up and down the aisles three times (thankfully there are only 4 or 5 of them). They have so many different plush toys, keychains, car fresheners, stickers, Korean movies and dramas, CDs, posters, diaries, workbooks, Studio Ghibli puzzle sets, and yes... packs of STAR PAPER! But not only do they have the flat paper, but the plastic straw-like variety, too! I had a hard time not buying one of every design and just limiting myself to 13 packs, but I know that I'll definitely be back. Main Objective: Star Paper I Actually Left the Store With: 11 packs of Paper Star Paper (lol); 2 packs of Plastic Star Paper (lolol); and 1 Korean Movie - 200 Pounds Beauty w/ Kim Ah-joong - only $6! Thanks, Kingstone Bookstore!!! read more

Kingstone Bookstore - Star paper is 0.99 + tax - Bookstores Near Me - Richmond, California

A decent array of Asian Cuteness™, paper products, office supplies, stuffed animals, giftable ceramics, and media for fair prices. Their selection tends towards the gaudy and haphazardly-arranged, not so much the classy and sleek. Kingstone delivers mostly Taiwanese goods like those found at a community stationery store -- above-average knockoffs and last year's overstock trinkets for less picky consumers. Contrast this to a place like Eslite (in Taiwan), the name-brand chain bookstore that specializes in designer and imported goods, and prides itself on its contemporaneity. So if you're looking for a B4-sized notebook with thinner Asian-ruled pages, or a plastic A4-sized sleeve to hold your papers, you'll find a bunch here to choose from, but the designs will either make you feel like a gradeschooler or a granny. They do a brisk business in international phone cards and small-ticket gift items. I'm also impressed that they have many Chinese-language classics (like the Zuozhuan and interpretations, the Analects, the Dao De Jing, Book of Poetry, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, collections of Tang and Song poetry, Dream of the Red Chamber, Feng Menglong, etc.) published by Sanmin, which makes some of the most readable modern print editions currently available. The markup is reasonable -- a 300NT book cost me $15USD. I can deal with that. They also have licensed Studio Ghibli and Sanrio products for sale. What they have may collect some dust in their display windows, but it's eye-catching and draws in customers. read more

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We made a quick stop to purchase a few items towards back home on 12/24/18. As we're leaving, I saw this cute little shop with Tokidoki bags, Totoro and a lot of other cute things. Ask my husband if we can just take a quick 5 minutes look inside. He agreed. Upon entering the store we were greeted by the gentleman sitting behind the counter. It made us feel welcomed and that was a very pleasurable atmosphere. I'm a big fan of Tokidoki (prefer them bags over ugly dookie brown LV bags) and Totoro. Walking in here is like stepping into heaven! Okay, okay. I'm getting too happy. Inside the store is small. But, everything is neat and organized. Easy to walk around and not worrying about bumping into things. My kid can be hyper at times. But, I told him to behave himself and if he wanted to look at something he need to ask me before he grabs it. Just in case he knocks something over. He found what he was looking for. It was some cars/ traffic cones rubber looking erasers or are they even toys??? So that's what he wanted, I placed it on top of the counter so I know we will be purchasing it on our way out. They have cutesy stuff animals such as Totoro, Hello Kitty, a few cellphone case (mostly 7plus) Rilakkuma, some Pokémon characters, Chinese DVD, Chinese Chess board games, car fresheners, and the list goes on. I see that a lotta things are expensive but, that's because it's authentic and they are more likely imported from Japan. Look at the tags to verify. I wanted to get the Totoro cellphone case but, I had an iPhone 7. Too bad for me. Husband found a lovely scented car freshener (Japan) the scent is not overpowering and is light. Reminded me of the smell of the 2004 STI. I have very sensitive nose and anything that burns my nose with a scent I hate. I hate the smell of febreze air fresheners and Glade air fresheners so finding my old fav car freshener at this store made me feel very happy. We don't have to travel all the way to Japantown to shop for certain items no more. We was ready to pay. Nice gentleman was very polite and kind. He handed me back my card with two hands and of course I reached out back with two hands to show my respect. We thanked each other and left. I will return again because of the pleasant and welcoming experience. I know my kids love the store also with all the cute stuff. Oh yeah, the store carries TY beanies. The have small and medium size plushies. read more

TL/DR: The books/music/toys/stationary/tchotchke are geared towards kids but ironically the people are unfriendly towards families. The hostile clerk/owner kicked me and my son out of this store because my son was throwing a temper tantrum. Long story: I specifically sought out this Chinese bookstore to purchase a birthday gift. While I was browsing the book selection, my tot was fixated on a car stuffed animal and relentlessly asked me to purchase it. I reminded him that the purpose of this trip was to buy a book for his friend, which he promptly said, "NO!" There was no way to reason with him, and this was heading towards a meltdown. I did the walk-out-of-the-store trick to pull him away from his toy fixation. In the mall, he aired out his frustration with a public meltdown. After he a good cry, I knelt down and reasoned with him at eye level. Great, he calmed down and was able to absorb our conversation. So we walked back in the store, and the male store clerk (owner?) shooed me away and said, "You are not welcomed here." I asked, "What do you mean by that?" And he remarked, "你不是一個好媽媽。(You are not a good mother.)" WOAH! Not one to be smeared, I calmly replied in Mandarin, "在短時間內如何知道人是好還是壞？ (How do you judge a person in a short time frame?)" He was pissed because my son put back the stuffed toy, but he accidentally knocked over a few more toys on his way out. I had no idea. The clerk judged me for not picking up after my son. I asked him, "在那一刻,人還是東西重要？ (In that moment, which is more important: person or stuff)?" He had the gall to say, "對我來說，東西比較重要。(To me, the stuff is more important.)" I could not believe his greed over a few stuffed animals is more important than supporting a teachable moment between a parent and child. I get it, petty capitalism can result in perverse responses. So I pleaded to the owner's conscience in a different way. I told the clerk, "在那一刻，我不能把我的身體分成兩個人。 我要先照顧我兒子。我現在回到店幫忙把東西放回去。(In that moment, I cannot split my body into two. I am going to take care of my son first. And now I am back to help clean up (Or guide my tot to clean up his mess, which would be a better lesson))." The clerk was unexpectedly stunned by my response, but nonetheless he kept his critical stance to 保住面子 (save face). I finally said, "你店裡賣的東西是給孩子。你怎麼不了解父母對待孩子的心思。你自己有孩子的經驗嗎? 你沒有同情心。(How can you sell goods geared towards kids and not understand parents' state of mind dealing with young children. Do you even have kids to be able to judge me? You have no empathy.)" To 打發我 (quickly dismiss me) and avoid more of a scene, he curtly BSed, "我說不過你。(I can not talk over you.)" This whole argument was in Mandarin, which is not my native language. But I am proud to stick up for myself. Really this is for all the moms who get unfairly judged in that split second that your child throws a tantrum. There is no such thing as the BEST mom in the world having a child without a tantrum. There is only BEST MOMS everywhere, and mutually exclusive, ALL children throw tantrums, especially when not getting a toy or not getting their way. At a young age, tantrums are not a reflection of parents but a child's development in asserting one's independence, identity, needs, and wants. Usually these wants are at a disregard to parents and others because their prefrontal cortex (controls cognition and risks) are rapidly developing and doesn't quite slow down until closer to their 20s and 30s. Have you never seen a teenager throw a tantrum? Kingstone used to have a captive customer base. With proliferating small online businesses and far-reaching global ecommerce sites, there are better places to take my business to. Kingstone has lost a customer forever. I will now patronize other similar SF Bay Area stores or have books shipped from a different Taiwanese bookstore: Chinese Books for Children (Los Altos) http://www.chinesebooksforchildren.com/ Little Monkey and Mouse (Belmont) http://www.littlemonkeyandmouse.com/ 博客來 http://www.books.com.tw/ (9 out 10 times the online book price is cheaper than Kingstone's online store) Asian Parent http://www.asianparent.com/ Why am I trying to reinvent the wheel? Just refer to this list - http://mandarinmama.com/tag/chinese-bookstores/ read more

Adorable bookstore selling Taiwanese books with a wonderful owner. My kids love all the Japanese and Taiwanese toys, stationary and home goods. read more

I love this store! They have the best selection of hand-made cards. The $8.50 wedding card you bought at Papyrus is available here for $3.00. And the $5.50 you could've saved would've got you some cute Snoopy stickers, a Kiki's Delivery Service mechanical pencil, and a Baby Shower card (that is the reason your friends got hitched, isn't it?). Drawback # 1 - they have a $20 minimum for credit cards which means that I always end up with way more stickers than I know what to do with Drawback #2 - they're located in the Asian mall in El Cerrito so beware of crappy drivers. I can say that because I AM a crappy Asian driver. read more

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. My gf and I were browsing this place when the owner suddenly wanted to kick us out because he thought my gf said something in the store was "too expensive". Not only did we ever say anything of the sort, if we DID, then it is 100% his problem and not ours. This is a first and hopefully a last. I understand it is his right to kick anyone out of his store, but it feels beyond wrong to be kicked out when you haven't even done something wrong, or more - when you haven't done something they think you did. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but I'm too polite for that. Good luck with an attitude like that. read more