BTW News Briefs

GLBA Announces Winners of "Get Caught Reading" Photo Contest

The Great Lakes Booksellers Association announced that Bethany Taylor, who shops at Sacred Path Books & Art, Cleveland, Ohio, was the winner of its "Get Caught Reading" Photo Contest. As her prize, Taylor and her family will attend the Booksellers Banquet and Children’s Book & Author Breakfast and receive one night’s accommodations at the GLBA Fall Trade Show. Her photo will be among those featured on the 2004 Readers of the Great Lakes poster. Sacred Path, as the sponsoring store, also receives tickets to the two meal functions and one night’s accommodations.

Her photo, and many others submitted to the contest, can be viewed in a "slideshow" at the GLBA Web site: http://www.books-glba.org/caughtreading.php.

Specialty Shops Share Common Competitor: Wal-Mart

As reported in Stores, a retail trade magazine, its list of 100 leading specialty shops -- which range from books to music to apparel -- each have something in common: they count Wal-Mart as a top competitor. Wal-Mart’s supercenters, traditional discount stores, and Sam’s Club warehouses carry wares in every specialty segment represented on the Top 100 Specialty Store Retailers, said Stores.

Best Buy leads the list, followed by Gap, Staples, Office Depot, and Toys "R" Us. While no news to booksellers, the magazine pointed out that Sam’s Club has become a giant among sellers of popular book titles, while records, tapes, DVD movies, computer games and every other form of recorded entertainment is on Wal-Mart’s shelves (not to mention what can be downloaded at walmart.com).