Industry News

The issue of debit card fees versus credit card fees continues to confound not only merchants, but consumers, too. While merchants are charged a higher rate for signature-based card transactions -- compared with about 20 cents for a card transaction where a customer enters a PIN number -- some banks are now charging their customers a fee for using their PIN number in an attempt to encourage customers to sign for credit card transactions.

Gone are the hurricanes of August and September, but for the affected bookstores in the Southeast, memories of lost business days, ruined merchandise, and massive clean-up efforts linger. Most stores contacted by Bookselling This Week are open, with or without repairs completed. Building materials and labor are often in very short supply. The big question for all is, will tourists and local shoppers return for the holidays?

ABA is encouraging booksellers to check out the new forum software on the Idea Exchange section of BookWeb.org. Launched just last week, the new Idea Exchange was developed in response to booksellers' requests for more user-friendly forums, which provide flexibility and where booksellers can prioritize and search for topics of interest.

On Wednesday, November 17, Stacy Mitchell -- author of The Hometown Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores and Why It Matters (Institute for Local Self-Reliance) -- will speak at the University of Tampa in a fundraising event sponsored by the Tampa Independent Business Alliance (TIBA).

Booksellers are saluting The Polar Express, which chugged into movie theaters on November 10. The eagerly anticipated release of Warner Brothers' animated adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express (Houghton Mifflin) has generated many promotional activities, as well as altruistic possibilities for booksellers around the country.

The virtual community of independent booksellers received a boost on Thursday, November 4, with ABA's launch of new forum software on the Idea Exchange section of BookWeb.org. The new, improved forum software was developed in response to booksellers' requests for more user-friendly forums, which provide flexibility and where booksellers can prioritize and search for topics of interest. Access to the forums is open to all ABA bookstore and provisional members and provides them with a valuable professional development tool.

Women & Children First, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month, has become such a venerable institution that Chicago's mayor, Richard Daley, has proclaimed the store's anniversary date -- November 10 -- "Women & Children First Day." Festivities to celebrate the store's silver anniversary include a November 20 party and benefit for two local charitable organizations.

While many were disappointed by this week's election results, the local businesses of Hudson, Ohio, were very happy with the way at least one vote turned out. Residents of historic Hudson made crystal clear their support of local merchants and voted down Issue 25 -- which sought to change local zoning laws to increase the allowable square footage of retail stores -- by a resounding margin of two to one, according to Liz Murphy of the Learned Owl Bookshop in Hudson.

This week, Book Sense announced that booksellers can now process Book Sense Gift Cards through an enhanced and optional feature of IBID, Version 14. This new way to process gift cards is being offered to complement the other methods already available from Givex. (For more on the different ways to process Book Sense gift cards, click here.)

On Sunday and Monday, October 24 - 25, 578 booksellers, 417 publishers, and a slew of authors gathered at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City for the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show. "The show is always a great time for booksellers to meet new booksellers, and see old friends," said NAIBA Executive Director Eileen Dengler.