Kepler's Works to Refine and Improve

In October, when Clark Kepler reopened Kepler's Books and Magazines after financial problems almost forced its permanent closure last August, he did so with help from members of the Silicon Valley community, including financiers, technology and Internet magnates, elected representatives, business leaders, and many hundreds of loyal customers.

Kepler, who described the period between the closing and reopening of the store as, "the hardest work I have ever done in my life," was heartened by the mass showing of support for the bookstore. "With new investors, we were again solvent and our vendors began to ship again. We had developed a payment plan for our past due bills, and our inventory was back in place. [October 8, the day the store reopened] was a huge business day. People opened their wallets and bought," he recently told BTW.

"We had rehired 60 percent of our former staff and hired the additional 40 percent by the holidays. We also had hundreds of volunteers who helped us shelve books and move things. [When the store opened for business] people came to us expressing their affection and gratitude that we were back, promising never to shop at Amazon, or anywhere else, again. People were very forgiving with so many new staff members and the little mistakes."

However, Kepler quickly pointed out that the success of Kepler's requires more than a few good months. "We had an amazing holiday season. But the atmosphere of the holidays is unique. We need to invest in staff training -- so people will feel that it's worth their while to shop here. We want to find happy people who have fun as booksellers," he said. "That's a big challenge ahead. We have a window of time during which people will overlook our shortcomings."

New staff is just one of the changes engendered by the August closing. Kepler explained the revamped organization of the bookstore. "We have been working with very experienced business people to set up our new structure," he told BTW. "We now have a membership program -- the 'literary circle,' almost two-dozen patrons [investor/shareholders], and a five-member Board of Directors."

As CEO, Kepler chairs the Board, whose members include Daniel Mendez, chief technology officer and co-founder of the Visto Corporation; venture capitalist Bruce Dunlevie; and Geoff Ralston, chief product officer of Yahoo. All three are longtime customers of Kepler's. One director's chair remains vacant for a book industry representative, to be announced.

Kepler outlined the membership program, which he told BTW was based on the National Public Radio model. "We have membership levels from $20 for students, to $2,500 for platinum members. Most average about $50, and family memberships can range from $100 to $200. A lot of people gave more."

Membership is not required to shop in the store, but members are entitled to many special events, thank you gifts, discount coupons, and for Platinum level members, even VIP parking for all author events. Memberships are valid for one year.

"We have been working with marketing professionals to create this membership program," Kepler told BTW. "Anne Banta, who started as a volunteer and is now CMO, has 20 years of experience. She has so many great ideas."

He described a recent event for which the featured author was a half-hour late. "People were sitting there waiting, not all had bought books yet, and Anne saw an opportunity. In the future, she thought, we could have a table to welcome people and give them a seat holder so they could reserve their places and go shop for books. At the next author event, for Amy Tan, this worked to perfection, and people shopped until the event began."

Kepler reflected, "The standard author events, the kind we're used to, need some refining. I have to take off my blinders and see beyond the way we always did things.

"We have plans for programs to work with schools and other outside venues. Our inventory mix needs to be refined. We need to create a viable website. There is plenty to do. We worked so continuously and frantically until January. Now we have to work on bigger projects."

Kepler concluded, "It's like we had the barn raising. Now that the barn is built, what about the rest of the ranch?" --Nomi Schwartz