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Booksellers who participated in this year's 2004 ABACUS study are now receiving their full ABACUS report and personalized store comparison. Repeating the study's first year's success, ABACUS 2004 achieved a participation rate of 11 percent, with 181 bookstores submitting financial data to the study. The result is a detailed analysis that provides key insights into the drivers of store profitability.
 After several months of failed negotiations with her landlord to lower her store's rent -- and a near eviction -- Susan Danner, owner of Danner's Books in Muncie, Indiana, announced that the store would be reduced in size from 6,000 to around 4,000 square feet to make way for a Subway restaurant franchise, which is expected to move into the space in the next few months.
After last year's shakeup at the Concord Bookshop in Concord, Massachusetts, which resulted in the store's three longtime managers being relieved of their managerial duties, they and many of the remaining staff resigned in frustration.
In late June, Penguin Group (USA) announced the launch of a new direct sales division to be aimed primarily at the children's market, with a particular emphasis on preschool and young readers, called "Family Books at Home." Family Books will sell books via a network of "independent consultants," who will utilize a "party plan" method of selling books at gatherings in private homes. Penguin hired former Avon.com president and general manager Len Edwards as the new division's president of direct selling.
The American Booksellers Association's Board of Directors and senior staff met from Thursday, July 8, through Sunday, July 11. The first day of meetings was held in New York City and was preceded by an orientation for the new members of the Board, Linda Ramsdell of Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, Vermont, and Cathy Langer of Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, on Wednesday, July 7, also in New York City. The remaining meetings were held at ABA's headquarters in Tarrytown, New York.
During the July meeting, the Board:
The results of a major survey on the state of reading in America were released last Thursday by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the organization termed its findings a "bleak assessment" and the news "dire." In his preface to Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, NEA chairman Dana Gioia explained that the report's key findings could be summarized in one sentence: "Literary reading in America is not only declining rapidly among all groups, but the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the young.&
Books Inc. Announces Plans for a New Store
Michael Tucker, president and co-owner of Books Inc., has announced plans to open a new store on Park Street in Alameda, California. The new Books Inc., the store's 10th location, will be part of the revitalization of the Park Street business district, which includes over 70 historically significant structures, including the Alameda Theater.
John Evans and Alison Reid, co-owners of DIESEL, A Bookstore, in Oakland, California, recently opened a second DIESEL, in Malibu, which had been without a bookstore for years. Evans and Reid reported that the Malibu community was thrilled to have the store, which has been "doing gangbusters" since its Memorial Day weekend opening.
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About ABA
American Booksellers Association is a national trade association that supports and advocates for the success of independent bookstores. We provide members with education, networking opportunities, advocacy, resources, and technology. In turn our members support local schools through book fairs, donations and author visits; promote literacy; provide inclusive community centers; connect readers and books; add character to neighborhoods; champion and center diverse and new voices; and contribute to the local economy. We feel honored to support them in their work.
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