Buffaloed Into Buying a Bookstore

Susanne Kufahl was working as a computer systems manager at the Wisconsin Department of Justice when her daughter, Rachael Krueger, suggested she buy their local bookstore, Buffalo Books & Café, in Montello. Kufahl let the idea percolate until, at another local used bookstore, she was suddenly inspired to buy not, say, a used copy of The Da Vinci Code or Reading Lolita in Tehran, but an entire bookstore. She contacted the realtor for Buffalo Books and was running the bookstore within six weeks.

Krueger, who manages Buffalo Books, and her mother, had been regular customers at the store and were friends with the former owner, Chris Todd, who originally opened the store in 1996, said Kufahl. Kufahl took over in 2001 and has had the same staff -- which is primarily family -- since that time. Working with the same people over the past few years has "helped us become a more fine-tuned machine," she said.

Quarry waterfalls across the street from Buffalo Books & Cafe.

The 2,000-square-foot general bookstore has a café, which serves sandwiches and all kinds of non-alcoholic drinks. The building, over 100 years old, formerly served as the home for the Montello Express newspaper, established in 1862. The front windows look directly onto waterfalls across the street, which were created when the Montello granite quarry was converted into a deep lake. The back of the store, with a patio and deck, abuts the Montello River.

Kufahl recently rejoined ABA. When she left, she "felt the loss of Book Sense," she said. Since starting up again she said she and her staff attack the White Box monthly to read almost all the ARCs. "We fight over them," she said. She uses the ARCs to help pick staff recommendations, which customers pay close attention to. "I love the Book Sense program," she added. "I don't care how much money we might be short. We'll always be [ABA] members."

For Kufahl, one of the benefits of the Book Sense program is the Book Sense Picks fliers. Recommendations from fellow booksellers have encouraged her to become "more open-minded." One of her favorites originally discovered through Book Sense is Augusten Burroughs, an author whose writing she might not have been drawn to without the Picks list. "Have you read it?" she asked. "It can be quite graphic. For me it was a big step." Now she readily handsells Burroughs' work.

The Picks selections are kept face out on the shelves in the front of the store. Kufahl said that customers rely on those displays. "Oprah's not as big anymore," she said. "Now customers want Book Sense and personal recommendations."

Nearing her fourth anniversary as a bookseller, Kufahl is on the less frantic side of the learning curve and has seen the bookstore evolve. "After almost three years, it's improving," she said. "I've got more [retail] experience and more experience selling books. Things are really picking up." --Karen Schechner