domy books

One visit to Domy Books and it’s gotten on my list of cool places to go in Houston.

It’s officially a bookstore but there are enough toys on their shelves to be a bonafide toystore. So much so that the Houston Press awarded it “Best Toy Store” in Houston this year.

It’s a quirky place. There are a lot of comic books and art books but there are regular novels and non-fiction as well.

The toys are the interesting collectible blind box, plastic, and vinyl figurines such as robots, animals dressed up as other animals, humans dressed up as animals, aliens, and other random things. Lots of KidRobot stuff. Here’s an example:

Meet Bones Labbit.

There was this one smoking panda that had the message “Liberado Hoy Por Cerveza Manana” on his T-Shirt. I only took three years of unfocused Spanish in high school but I believe that means “Liberated Today for Beer Tomorrow.”

What a bunch of jokers.

I know what you’re thinking. Bookstore with modern decor, weird Japanese toys and cashier with tattoos and trendy hair behind the counter. Overdone. Trying too hard. You woud think that’s the case but it’s not. There’s no DJ spinning music in the background. As you walk around the bookstore, you really start to believe that whoever designed the store and runs the store loves everything that’s in the store and isn’t trying to fit some sort of business model.

Here’s how they describe themselves:

“Domy is a progressive bookstore with a focus on editioned books, periodicals, video, and product lines that concentrate on national and international contemporary art and culture.

Additionally, Domy will produce exhibitions and events that highlight the store’s intersecting ideas thru a variety of media, including: works on paper, video, music, design and printed matter.”

I’ll definitely be back. I want to buy Craig Thompson’s comic book novel, Blankets, and I want to check out their patio cafe in the back. I think I spotted a waiter carrying waffles with strawberry topping.

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