Booksellers Ended the Year on a High Note

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Despite the numerous challenges faced by independent retailers throughout 2010, many booksellers who spoke to BTW had a strong holiday season, reporting an overall increase from last year’s sales, and a significant improvement from 2008. Nonfiction hardcovers were big sellers this season, with The Autobiography of Mark Twain (University of California Press) and Cleopatra by Stacy Shiff (Little, Brown) among the top sellers everywhere. Indies continued to distinguish themselves by showcasing local authors and artists and boosted sales by creating unique pairings of books and sidelines.

Rita Moran, owner of Apple Valley Bookstore in Winthrop, Maine, noticed an improvement in sales and an overall positive shift in shoppers’ spending behavior this holiday season.

“Consumer confidence seemed to be better than it had been, which is a good thing,” Moran said. “We certainly needed that.” Apple Valley’s sales have been steadily increasing over the past two years, she said, adding, “2008 was just dreadful.” Earlier in the year, Apple Valley had to face the challenge of neighboring construction, which was driving shoppers away.

“Our street was torn up all summer, so I think people got into the habit of not going downtown,” said Moran. To increase consumer awareness, the store organized more off-site sales events, including monthly signings at the local library. “So we were able to recover from that,” she added. “And it helped people get used to the idea that there are still bricks-and-mortar bookstores.”

Moran also saw more people eager to support independent retailers.

“People are becoming much more aware,” she said. “One of the effects of what has happened with the economy is that people are more cautious. They’re more careful with comparison shopping, and they realize where their money goes.” A holiday hit at Apple Valley was a sideline made by a local craftsperson. The store had a difficult time keeping jam spreaders with the words “spread peace” carved into them, handmade by a Montville native, Kathy Roberts, in stock. “Having a local shop really is a wonderful thing, because we are in a position to help out local crafters and local artists,” said Moran.

Carla Jimenez, co-owner of Inkwood Books in Tampa, Florida, noticed that although there didn’t seem to be as much in-store traffic, gross sales were up for the season, as they had been throughout the year. Jimenez attributed this to an increase in sales of hardcovers and other higher-priced items.

Inkwood’s holiday sales were also boosted by Tampa resident and bestselling suspense writer Michael Connelly’s latest book, and the media coverage that accompanied it. It was advertised in the L.A. Times and on the author's website that signed copies of his book, The Reversal (Little, Brown), could be purchased from Inkwood. This generated a lot of sales and kept the store busy.

“That was a great bonus to Inkwood,” said Jimenez. “It was a lot of work, but it was definitely worth it.”

Bestsellers at Inkwood were “the usual suspects,” said Jimenez, including titles by Jonathan Franzen, David Sedaris, and Patti Smith. In addition, the store had 25 staff picks wrapped and ready for purchase, a marketing effort that was very successful.

Though there wasn’t much in-store chatter about e-books during the holidays, Inkwood has received a lot of media exposure surrounding sales of Google eBooks™ on its IndieCommerce website.

“We don’t expect [e-books] to change our day-to-day very much, but we have seen some traffic on our website,” said Jimenez. “There are a lot of people who have moved out of the area that are happy to still be able to buy from Inkwood. So I think that’s really cool.”

Inkwood’s popular sidelines were Folkmanis Puppets, which were paired with books when appropriate. One such example was David Sedaris’ Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk (Little, Brown).

Jonah Zimiles, owner of words in Maplewood, New Jersey, reported a 15 percent sales increase from last year, which he attributed to an improved economy, as well as the store’s improved visibility within the community. At the beginning of December, words hosted a very successful “Support Your School Week” that earmarked a significant percentage of sales for donation to schools chosen by customers. This event “helped kick off the holiday season,” Zimiles said.

Jon Stewart’s Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race (Grand Central) and Keith Richards’ Life (Little, Brown) were bestsellers at words, as were Emma Donaghue’s Room (Little, Brown) and Steve Martin’s An Object of Beauty (Grand Central Publishing). The store sold out of Mark Twain and Cleopatra, as well as Daniel Pink’s Drive and Jane Leavy’s The Last Boy (Harper). New Yorker Note Cards were words’ top-selling sideline.

“This is the best year we’ve had in a while,” said Jane Moser, store manager at Brazos Bookstore in Houston, Texas. December’s sales were up about 20 percent from last year.

Moser attributes the store’s success to its increased marketing efforts through e-mail and numerous signing events. Additionally, the store carried many Texas-specific books that had great local appeal, she said.

In addition to Mark Twain and Cleopatra, Moser said the New York Times bestsellers and National Book Award winners did extremely well this season. Brazos’ top-selling sidelines were Wonder-Shirts totes – canvas book bags printed with scenes from well-known children’s books.

At Warwick’s, in La Jolla, California, sales were about the same as last year. “We’re just about flat, maybe a little under,” said Adrian Newell, a book buyer and manager of the book department. “I think it’s just been a number of factors. Our sales are still tremendous. We’re just not experiencing the steady growth we saw pre-2008,” she said. “I’m sure there are stores that would love to have our sales, but it’s just not what we’re used to.” Sales were good early in the month, near Hanukah, but slowed down between then and Christmas.

“When you have so many ways in which your business is undercut by competition, it’s just hard,” she said. “I don’t think it’s e-books as much as it is people buying less or getting it online. We saw big pushes near the end because that’s when you can’t get things in time when you shop online.”

Warwick’s held a Holiday Happy Hour during the week before Christmas, extending the store’s hours and serving light refreshments, as well as beer and wine.

“It gave people who work the opportunity to come in and relax without the pressure of the lines,” she said. “And people were happy that we were open. It was festive and low-key, and we did well. I think we’ll do that again next year.”

Colette Morgan of Wild Rumpus, a children’s bookstore in Minneapolis, Minnesota, said holiday sales were “fantastic. Definitely improved from last year.”

The area was hit by a blizzard that forced businesses to close the weekend before Christmas. “That hurt us a lot,” said Morgan. “But we were able to make it up because in the following week, a lot of kids had snow days and came into the store.”

Though Morgan did not receive many e-book inquiries, the store has received some orders online. “That is encouraging,” she said. “The few orders we’ve had have gone through seamlessly, so we’re definitely going to try to promote that.”

Wild Rumpus' bestsellers for the season were Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg (Workman) and Awkward Family Photos by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack (Three Rivers Press), both of which they could not keep in stock.

Darvill’s Bookstore, in Eastsound, Washington, experienced a 20 percent decrease in sales during the holiday season, which owner Jenny Pederson said was mainly due to the store’s location. The current year-round population of the island on which the store is located has dropped due to the economy. Still, Darvill’s overall sales for 2010 are up by one percent.

Jenny Pederson (center) takes a break from wrapping with her daughter and mother, who founded the store in 1976.

“We worked really hard on marketing this year,” said Pederson. Darvill’s most successful holiday events were its annual holiday sale on the first Saturday of December, the store’s monthly children’s event, which included holiday crafts and stories, and a CD release party on December 18 featuring local musicians. Darvill’s staff worked hard to promote gift cards, which sold better this year, and they made sure customers knew about its free gift wrapping and the homemade cookies that Pederson served to customers from Thanksgiving until Christmas.

Some of Darvill’s bestsellers were The Big Burn by Timothy Egan (Mariner Books), The Collector by Jack Nisbet (Sasquatch Books), who did a reading at the store in September, At Home by Bill Bryson (Doubleday), as well as Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth, by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books).

Sideline sales were strong during the season. The store carried stationery, Theo Chocolate, Mudlark soap products, and Knowledge Cards and puzzles from Pomegranate. Felted ornaments from Bossy’s Feltworks, and photo books from local artist Tina Brown also did well.

“This is our fourth Christmas, and each one gets considerably better,” said Peter Makin, owner of Brilliant Books, in Suttons Bay, Michigan. “And our sales got better the closer we got to Christmas.” The store also had a strong post-holiday selling period between Christmas and the New Year, which Makin attributed in part to tourists visiting the area around the holidays.

“We’re in a tourist area, so we get a lot of people in the summer, and now more people are visiting us around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think people are getting used to the idea that there’s a decent bookstore in the area, and they look forward to coming to us before going on the airplane. It’s all about being known in the area.”

Brilliant Books is increasing its advertising efforts via Facebook and Twitter while booking fewer print ads in newspapers. However, the store places many community ads, such as in local school publications.

In the middle of December, Makin promoted his plans to donate 10 percent of a day’s sales to the local food pantry.

“That was big,” said Makin. “It was a great way to support the food pantry, and it was great PR for us.”

Brilliant Books’ customers have expressed interest in e-books, and the store’s staff is eager to cater to them. At the end of January, the store is hosting an e-book demonstration to show customers how to buy them. “We have a nook for the store that we can use to show people, and we recruited some customers to bring in various e-readers,” said Makin, “because they want to buy e-books and they want to support the store, we want to show them how.”

Nonfiction was a popular genre this season at Brilliant Books, with titles such as George W. Bush’s Decision Points (Crown), Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken (Random House), and Keith Richards’ Life among the store’s top sellers.

“Booksellers in general were pretty fortunate to have such strong titles this season,” said Makin. “And then we like to pick things that are kind of quirky and make great gifts.” The staff hand-sold “tons” of Anna Jane Grossman’s Obsolete: An Encyclopedia of Once-Common Things Passing Us By (Abrams Image), as well as Snow Play by Birgitta Ralston (Artisan).

“I think that’s what people are looking for,” Makin said, “Instead of having piles of Dragon Tattoo, you need something that can set you apart. Something you won’t find at the airport bookstore, you won’t find on the table at Borders. You’ll find it at your independent, and it’s something that’s kind of cool and neat and weird.”