Four Season Books' Recent Break-Through a Testimony to Success

Gauging from the sounds in the background as BTW recently interviewed Michael Raubertas of Four Seasons Books, the bookselling climate at the Shepherdstown, West Virginia, bookstore includes much sawing and banging. Over the din, Raubertas, store co-owner with his wife, Ruth, shouted that "today we're breaking through the wall." That wall, between the Raubertas' 1,000-square-foot store, and the recently vacated adjoining storefront, will have a door to access the additional 750 square feet that Four Seasons will now occupy. The addition will be open for business by Thanksgiving.

After 12 years, Raubertas is pleased to finally expand. "We've thought about it for a number of years," he told BTW from a phone away from the construction. "The last time the storefront [next door] was available, we decided not to do it, and we regretted it. [In the new space] we are going to put in a coffee bar and add sections for used books and remainders. New books have always been our main profit source, but used books add depth to the store. We like to offer oversized, illustrated art, architecture, and gardening books [as remainders] since people are reluctant to pay new-book prices for them."

Shepherdstown, located on a bluff overlooking the Potomac River, is a small college town with a small college, Shepherd College, both with populations of approximately 3,000. The scenic town, the oldest in West Virginia, is only 70 miles west of Washington, D.C. "We are becoming an outer, outer suburb of the Washington metropolitan area, but we're not there yet." The area is a popular destination for weekenders and day-trippers from Baltimore and D.C., and it is rich with historical sites such as Harpers Ferry and Antietam. Raubertas commuted from his job at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Washington, D.C., to the store for three years as he finished up an eight-year stint at the VA as an attorney while Ruth ran the store full time. He then made the complete transition to small town bookseller and hasn't looked back.

In an area so sparsely populated, chain bookstores have not made great inroads; the nearest chain store is in a mall 10 miles away, and the nearest large chain bookstore is 40 minutes away, in Hagerstown. Many residents prefer to shop locally whenever possible, although the major food and drug stores eventually relocated to the malls. Other customers reach the store from extraordinary distances, such as the patron in Kazakhstan, who orders several hundred dollars worth of books each year through the Four Seasons' BookSense.com site. Raubertas has been pleased with the response to the site. "We report to the Book Sense Bestseller List," he said, "and we find the Book Sense list better than any other bestseller lists."

Four Seasons Books holds two major author events per year, each with 10 to 15 authors, rather than smaller, individual readings. Both attract good crowds. Like so many good tips, Raubertas credits another bookseller for giving them the idea for the Adopt-a-Book program. Customers fill out index cards with the title and author of a favorite book and their positive comments. The books are then displayed on a 'recommended' table with the cards for three months. Every copy of the recommended book sold within the three months, earns the customer $1 in store credit. "It's a way to work together to bring good books to the attention of a wider audience," said Raubertas. -- Nomi Schwartz