Indie Holiday Sales Mirror the Struggling Economy

Early forecasts for a dismal holiday retail season were generally met, according to preliminary figures released by MasterCard Inc.'s SpendingPulse unit, which indicate that retail sales, excluding automobiles, fell 5.5 percent in November and 8 percent for December through Christmas Eve, and today the New York Times reported that sales at mall retailers fell by double digits this holiday season. Most indie booksellers who spoke to BTW also reported a significant drop in sales, although for some, things didn't turn out to be as bad as initially expected.

In Manchester Center, Vermont, Northshire Bookstore experienced a double-digit decline in sales compared to last year, according to co-owner and store manager Chris Morrow. "Our decline started in September," he said, but the week after Christmas was busier than expected.

After taking stock of September's falling sales numbers, Northshire had been preparing for a disappointing Christmas. "We were hoping for better, obviously," said Morrow. "Our transaction count was down, but our average ticket was way down. There was a fair amount of people around, but everybody was buying much less than they had in the past."

Northshire's promotions, including a raffle and a discount coupon, garnered a lot of participation, said Morrow, "but didn't bump up the numbers to where we wanted."

Northshire's strategy for what looks to be a rocky 2009 will be one of experimentation. To fund that experimentation, Morrow will be looking to cut costs in areas such as rent and payroll. But none of the options on the table are a replacement for a large loss of revenue, he said. "I wish there was a magic bullet, but it ain't there."

In Albion, Michigan, Books & More's sales were off significantly, said owner Dorothy Dickerson, though she hadn't yet crunched the numbers. Business at the seven-year-old store "picked up in the last few weeks, but not quite soon enough." Shopping habits were noticeably different this year. Customers typically didn't make impulse buys, bought fewer books per transaction, and didn't buy as many gift certificates.

Looking ahead, Dickerson said she planned to meet with staff to brainstorm plans for more challenging times to come. Her thoughts include reducing payroll through attrition and a reduction in staff hours.

The newly opened 24,000-square-foot Legacy Books in Plano, Texas, had revised its holiday estimates in September, so it wasn't "off the mark for sales," said Kyle Hall, the store's director of marketing and events, despite lighter than expected traffic at the Shops at Legacy.

Gift card sales ran counter to the season's downward trend, said Hall. Customers put an average amount on Legacy Books gift cards upwards of $40, which was just about the same as the store's average transaction amount. "Our averages climbed even higher in December, which shows that we definitely had strong holiday shopping at the bookstore. We definitely feel like we made Santa's 'nice' list," Hall added.

Legacy's sales included bestsellers as well as an eclectic mix. "Less bestseller-driven and much more drawn from across the whole breadth of our selection, different sections, etc. -- you know, sort of like an independent bookstore!," explained Hall. "It does feel like our indie-ness has been embraced by customers, even unconsciously."

Sara Beahler, owner of the year-and-a-half old Prairie Moon Books, reported a five to ten percent increase over last year's holiday sales. Rural Sheldon, Iowa, with a population of 4,000, has been somewhat spared from the economic difficulty that is affecting most other areas, she explained. "We might see something totally different next year, but so far nobody has lost their job." The bookstore, Beahler added, also benefited from a loyal customer base and cooperative weather.

"We didn't run sales or anything like that," said Beahler. "We just gave a lot of customer service and did a lot of special ordering. We also had an extensive sideline collection. We sold family games and children's creative art kits." ColorKu, which is Sudoku on a wooden board with colored beads, was a bestseller.

The Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, which was hit by several snow and ice storms right before the holiday, saw a 25 percent decline in sales from 2007. "It was as challenging a season as I ever hope to see," said owner Peter Aaron. "We had the double whammy of economic hardship, and we got clobbered by bad weather. We had five snowfalls in a two-week period. Between the economy and the weather, we got pasted."

Aaron noted that once people finally dug out of their homes, they did come to shop at the bookstore. However, the last minute drive "never seemed to make up the loss." He also said that he saw many of his customers after the holidays, and expects to continue to see many of them in the next couple of months. "Thank goodness we have a loyal base. We'll figure out a way to move forward."

Moving forward includes "eliminating just about every expense we can eliminate," he said. That includes a policy of tightly managing inventory, but with great care. "It's a difficult thing," Aaron explained. "We have to walk the tightrope between not carrying a lot of excess and not disappointing customers who come expecting us to carry books that others don't. That's one of the things that's kept us in business."

Still, Aaron said his and staffers' spirits were up. "We're smiling. We're still fighting on."

"It was a strange holiday season, but a good one," said Allison Hill, president and COO of Vroman's Bookshop in Pasadena, California. But, of course, this year, in this economy, the term "good" is relative. "We were significantly down going into the last week before Christmas. Then the last week was really strong, and the last two days were like nothing we've ever seen."

Overall, for December, the store was down about seven percent compared to last year. "So I was pretty happy," said Hill. Considering what you've been hearing on the news, I felt like we held our own. It was surprising that, in such difficult times, things felt very upbeat."

Hill noted that on most Christmas Eves staff can usually count on things quieting down at around 2:00 p.m., at which point they begin the store's transition into a post-Christmas mode. Not the case, this year, she said. "We were packed up until closing. We had to kick the last person out at 7:00 p.m. It was a late season and a very unusual season." Vroman's sells a lot of non-book products, "but this season books did fantastic. It was a good reminder that people still do love books."

For Chester County Book Company in West Chester, Pennsylvania, December sales were down 14 percent, reported co-owner Kathy Simoneaux. "Customers who were coming in were spending; it was just that the customer count was down." Chester County is located in a strip center, and Simoneaux said shopping in general appeared down this holiday season. "Just from looking at the parking lot, I can tell it was down."

One issue this season, Simoneaux noted, was a lack of a hot book. "I ran my bestseller list, and there were no big books bringing people in. This year, it was all Stephanie Meyer or anything about the [World Series Champion Philadelphia] Phillies."

Making matters worse, the Sunday before Christmas, there was an ice storm that made roads in the area impassable for a few hours, and on Christmas Eve the store lost its DSL connection, so staff had to scramble to find other ways to handle transactions requiring an Internet connection, including credit card payments. "The 22nd and 23rd were very good," said Simoneaux. "The people that were coming into the store weren't verbalizing any concerns about what they were spending, it's just that people weren't shopping as much."

At Prince Books in Norfolk, Virginia, owner Sarah Pishko reported that the holiday season was weak, with sales down about 11 percent. Aside from the struggling economy, Prince Books also had to contend with construction in the downtown area and two big box stores that opened nearby. "They're building a small, light rail system here, and it's been enough to keep people from downtown," Pishko said. "But I just adjusted" by cutting staff hours and reducing "payroll by a fair amount."

Though the store had a "Christmas buzz," it was nonetheless slower than last year, Pishko noted. To draw people into the store, Prince Books sent out e-mails to its customer list to "remind people about being around." --Karen Schechner and David Grogan