Organization has improved here over the years, especially the upstairs room but I suspect that the tradeoff may have been a lot of stuff up there getting tossed. I'm sure there is a lot of old stuff to be found here that you can't find anywhere else. The staff working here are eager to help you find what you are looking for. This place is more geared towards hunting rather than shopping. read more

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If you like digging, this might be for you. It is a warehouse with two floors. Top floor contains $1.00 books. Bottom floor contains books, vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, maps magazines, old postcards and pictures, and everything in between. Unfortunately we found it to be disorganized and musty. A couple of the books I paged through on the bottom floor were dirty and should definitely be upstairs in the one dollar section. Mainly older books. Don't expect to find a lot of current reads. Also, one thing to note is that the adult men's magazines were not far from the comics. Not the best idea. The staff that was there was very helpful trying to assist everyone to find what they needed. If you have a day to spend a couple of hours and would like to hunt for a gem, give it a go. read more

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The archive is a hidden gem. I found out about it on Facebook. My friend and I went one afternoon and we were amazed with all the things they have there. It is definitely worth a day trip, as there is an upstairs and downstairs. The owner was very friendly helpful. Definitely go! They have a large selection of boons, magazines, comics, and much more. They also have a historical photos collection. read more

The Archive is in, what I would call a former warehouse. Parking is on the street with no visible lot. After entering though both doors, you come into one of several downstairs rooms full of just about every kind of book imaginable. What makes this stand apart is the piles and piles of old magazines for sales. Old newspapers also have their own room. Another room has old records and music. One of the rooms had several longboxes of comics that were rather useless. They felt like books from an old store around 20 years ago that no one wants today, such as Valiant Comics. Where my experience falls apart is the back. In that area, it stops being a bookstore and goes into a booth style antiques-ish store. The booths had a little bit of everything from Christmas ornaments to collectable trucks. It was mostly items you wouldn't find in a bookstore. Going upstairs to the second floor, where they have sales it seems, was another adventure. The second floor was full of...frankly junk. Books that were piled everywhere, random records, and tons of random "stuff". Most of the second floor is sealed off otherwise, it seems to be storage. Certain people will find Archive to be a great adventure, if you like to spend all day digging this might be the place for you. My visit was mostly what I expected in many ways, but still left looking for something different. read more

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The Archive is a large warehouse with books, antiques and many collectibles galore. The first time I came to The Archive was over 10 years ago when I was amazed by the amount of products they had. I had quite a few good finds over the years from the complete collection of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books to my first blur of Parklife in 2009 (they became my favorite band) and quite a few other good cd finds from bands like Pulp and The Verve which are harder to find in the US. I used to come here all the time with my older sister before she went into the air force to find cds, records and anything else we found cool! Discovering the upstairs section was especially exciting. Due to my sister leaving for the Air Force and the lack of a license at the time I haven't been here since 2012, and I haven't found the time to make it back since (which is a shame as they stopped selling cds recently at the end of February 2020). I still want to make it back one day, it's been far too long from the last visit! The only thing I will say is the parking isn't the best, its street parking out front and that can fill up quick. Its still worth it if you can find a spot! read more

The Archive is more like a gigantic warehouse filled with old books, newspapers from the 1950s-1970s, and random items. Books on the first floor cost anywhere from $2-$6 (which was somewhat overpriced for the condition). Because of a lack of windows and air conditioning, the building is really humid and the books are pretty disorganized. However, I really like the second floor "Sale" books, which were a really good price. The upper floor has 4 books for $1! I got a bunch of paperback books here which were in fairly good condition. read more

I may have discovered used bookstore heaven. The Archive, located at 725 W 2nd St in Lansdale, PA has 20,000 square feet of books, newspapers, ephemera, and paper collectibles. They also have an extensive antique selection in the back. But wait, there's more! The place has a second floor where you can fill up a box with books for $1.00 Although I didn't locate any super hard to find items, this is the perfect place if you want to find those remaining few Gor, Executioner, Destroyer, or Bondneeds. There's an entire table of unsorted vintage paperbacks which took me a long time to examine. Prices are reasonable, most of the paperbacks can be had for $2.00. Plan on spending and afternoon. read more

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I know Yelp has it listed as a very expensive store, but it's really not. The downstairs is a bit pricier than the attic, but in my opinion the attic is where all the cool sh*t is. Especially when there's a sale going on, so you should really follow them on FB. I've found so many awesome books and LPs here and it's always a fun treasure hunt for my partner and I. Be aware though, those with disabilities - no elevator to the attic unfortunately, only stairs. I'm fine with my partners arm or a cane. Too packed for a walker in the attic, which is sad for me. I'm a lot slower with my cane. -_- Going there during the warmer seasons is not a good idea if you plan to explore the attic for obvious reasons, so it's a trip best saved for the cooler seasons. Honestly, it's a favorite and it's totally worth pushing myself up the stairs even with my cold ridden arthritic joints. Archive, thanks for expanding my book & vinyl collection, and for the exercise too. Just a little thought, it'd be really cool if you offered like hot cocoa or something. Not a place to go if you have an aversion to that musty dusty smell, but if you love it like I do, go and waft around. read more

The archive is extremely big but it will really throw you back in time. So many vintage papers magazines posters vinyls cds etc. it is such a cool place to get a flash back in time. Would highly recommend ! read more

I love this place to death. Sure, it's musty and dusty. Sure, the prices are questionably displayed. Sure, the books and antiques are in no particular order, with random pairs of shoes strategically placed around the store and piles of craft books lying in the middle of the "WW2 history" section. That is because it's a USED BOOK STORE, people. If you need to find something specific fast, take your dead soul and go to a Barnes and Noble. This place isn't about efficient shopping. It's about perusing hundreds of years of leather-bound, hand-engraved history. It's about turning an unexpected corner and finding some familiar relic that made you laugh out loud. It's about sifting through piles of other people's lives and getting to know who they were. And they have a rabbit. Named Pumpkin. Who will gladly savage you if given the chance. Don't pretend like you don't love it. read more

They have a lot of old magazines, prints, books and antiques in the back. Unforuantely, everything is tossed together and not enough attention is paid to putting protector sleeves on the merchandize. They'll write the price on the old photo or postcard/card, which does not help for preservation qualities. The place is dusty and humid - not the best atmosphere for older books/photos that require preservation. The books are overpriced, and inconsistent in different areas. The back area is full of antiques and random objects - some are new home decor items and others are from consignment vendors. Everything is random, but interesting to look at. The staff are around to answer questions. They do have a lot of interesting things there, so it is worth a stop. read more

I really wanted to give this review 2 1/2 stars. The place is huge and they do have A lot of things, but it's dusty in there, hot and there's bugs flying around. The staff is crazy, the lady at the register told me when I was about to pay for two childen's book that I could just give her $2 dollars, It was a total of $3 originally. I said ok, sure that I just had to get cash from the car, when I went back and gave her the $2, she said is $3. I don't know what that was about. It's not like I asked for a discount. A lot of the books are not in good condition, a lot of them are overpriced too. I think is worth a visit and maybe one day I can spend more time there and browse better. read more

I love the archive! If not for the windowless walls (it is a warehouse) dank smell (not a positive use of "dank" in this case...) I'd spend whole afternoons sifting through old engravings, records, letters, photos and books! They do gift certificates-- makes for an interesting gift, as you're giving the experience of a trip to the archive. Even if they don't remember it for its delightful atmosphere or its cleanliness, they'll remember its massive selection and signature smell of stale air. Great place. A must-stop on my increasingly infrequent visits home to Lansdale. I daresay it even instills a touch of LANSDALE PRIDE! How in the heck did they do it. read more

This place is a great find in Lansdale. Yes it is a used book store so you should expect a musty dusty smell. I did not get a chance to check out the upstairs but I will be back very soon. It is street parking but it isn't a busy street so there are plenty of spots available. Plan on spending a few hours there if you are book crazy..there is plenty to see. read more

Old and dusty but still valuable comics to be found. HOWEVER, Comic Archive a way more comic friendly, wallet friendly, knowledgeable place to do business. $1 Bin is OUTSTANDING read more

2x went to store on a Sat. since all sites say open at 10am. NOT! TODAY 1045am and door locked. Barely can read time on door but looks like 11am. Really should correct this. read more

Walked in and was immediately hint in the face with the scent of piss. Later talked to the owner, and he said they have pet rabbits and rat in the children's sections. As I navigated through the rest of the store, I found more oddities. They have books from the 1900's, and the air is too damp in the place to really be housing older items in the open like that. They also have old receipts, food containers, and other antiques that any filmmaker shooting a period piece would love. Wanted to look more, but the place was so disorganized that I kind of didn't want to. Newer books were pretty overpriced, and are not at all in keeping with market value. They have a second floor where you can fill up a box with books and records for 1 dollar, but I left before I had the chance. read more

A great place for a book collector, record collector, and other persons interests of antiques. Just be careful what you buy and if it is expensive, DO NOT BUY!. I bought many things from them that was a lot of money and was worth almost nothing. I bought a jar of jewelry for 60 dollars and came up empty handed with no profit. Also bought coins which were over a hundred dollars and was told in good condition but rather not since they were all chewed up. I believe that the only thing that is good here is the books but they do go up to a couple hundred dollars depending what you are looking for and how old it is. The records are alright but some have have water damage and some are warped. I bought a 45 rpm for 3 dollars there and looked in really condition from my point of view but could not see entirely since they tape the sleeve so you cant open it and when i got home it was in good condition but found out that it was warped but other ones i bought were alright. read more

A hidden treasure! Great prices on antique books. Thousands of materials to sift through. If you go once, you will be back again.