Pelican Bay Books was founded in 1994 by Kevin Green in the back of the now defunct Friendly Books on the corner of 6th and Commercial. The bookstore quickly expanded and moved to 410 Commercial Avenue, next door to the Brown Lantern. In 2006, the sale of the building housing the bookstore forced its move to 1104 Ninth Street.

Eli Barrett learned the business of selling books while working for Kevin as a scout and clerk while in high school. In the years after, he kept a hand in the book world by working in and haunting bookstores all over the world.

In 2011, while living in Spokane and expecting their daughter Saffron, Eli and partner Brooklynd Johnson asked themselves “How shall we raise our children?” Rejecting the idea of unicorn ranching as too practical, they moved to Anacortes to explore the even more magical possibility of raising their family in a used bookstore surrounded by forests and sea.

After 18 months of working for Kevin, building relationships, and learning the business, they purchased the store in January 2013. In March of 2017 Pelican Bay Books moved back to the heart of downtown Anacortes at 520 Commercial Avenue, just across the street from where Kevin started the store decades earlier.

Today, thanks to a dedicated community of readers and book lovers, Pelican Bay Books & Coffeehouse is a thriving business, buying and selling thousands of used & rare books every month, and serving some of the best coffee & pastries in the Skagit Valley. We are honored to be a cultural and community hub for the most interesting residents of our town and for visitors from around the world.

We are continually building on our mission of providing good books to the community and serving as a crossroads for stories and ideas.