The front of the Shaman Drum bookstore.
Independent bookstore near the diag next to Michigan Book and Supply on State Street, closed 2009 after 29 years in operation. Carried a lot of humanities class text books, and a good selection of magazines. Had a double storefront: the door closer to MBS opens into magazines and nonfiction, while the farther (and flashier) door has remainders tables outside and opens into the fiction and art sections. You could ask for books to be ordered from the desk in the farther door. The staff were generally knowledgeable, and the editions of the books are often interesting.
Owned by Karl Pohrt.
As of late 2010, it appears Five Guys Burgers and Fries will move into the space.
In the news
- Michigan's Shaman Drum bookstore to close June 30, Los Angeles Times, June 2009
- Five Guys Burgers chain to move into former Shaman Drum space, AnnArbor.com, June 5, 2010
- Five Guys to hit State Street, Michigan Daily, Oct 8, 2010
If Pohrt gets the Great Lakes Literary Arts Center off the ground, which he seems likely to do, it still leaves the question of what role bookstores play in our communities today -- and tomorrow. Will the other independent Ann Arbor community bookstores be able to survive on the remaining book sales, or are they simply not enough to sustain the business? Has Shaman Drum fallen to a one-time disaster -- Michigan's worst-in-the-nation economy -- or is its decline part of a trend that will continue to topple decades-old bookstores nationwide? Will our future literary lives be split between buying books online and hanging out at the local literary nonprofit?
Web site: http://www.shamandrum.com/ (now closed)
