Hein & Company Bookstore

650,000 Books and Counting

Hein & Company is one of the largest used and rare bookstores in California — over 650,000 volumes packed into its Sutter Creek location on historic Main Street. Founded in 1991 by Linda and Wolf Hein, this family-owned operation has been providing Northern California’s foothill communities with hard-to-find and out-of-print titles, first editions, local history, and collectibles for more than three decades. The sheer density of books here is staggering, and the towering shelves have a way of swallowing an afternoon whole. Each room is meticulously curated, with nooks adorned by antiques, rare artifacts, and whimsical decor that invite you to lose yourself in the stacks.

Steampunk Ambiance and Vintage Treasures

Step inside and you will notice the distinctive steampunk aesthetic that permeates the space — an evolving design that sets Hein & Company apart from any ordinary bookshop. The atmosphere is part literary archive, part curiosity cabinet, and it keeps developing as the Heins add new touches throughout the building. Beyond the books, the store carries used DVDs, CDs, video games, antiques, and an estate sales section that sprawls across 10,000 square feet at the rear of the building. That love of Victorian whimsy also inspired Baker Street West, a 501(c)(3) community space the Heins helped establish in Jackson in 2013, featuring a recreated Victorian square and a replica of Sherlock Holmes’s apartment at 221B Baker Street — complete with theatrical productions, readings, and tea parties that drew fans of Holmes and steampunk culture from around the world.

A Foothill Institution

The store originally operated in Jackson, where it became what one local letter-writer called “the heart and soul of Jackson’s Main Street.” When the bookstore relocated to downtown Sutter Creek, the inventory and the legend both expanded. Over three decades of operation have cemented Hein & Company as a destination shop on one of the Mother Lode’s most charming downtown stretches. Collectors drive in from across Northern California specifically for this place, and they rarely leave empty-handed. You can also support the store through its Bookshop.org storefront, where online orders help fund the brick-and-mortar operation that keeps this corner of Gold Country stocked with stories.