New Year's Day Sales Events: A Profitable Tradition

If there is any truth to the old saw about the activities one engages in on New Year's Day setting the pattern for the year to come, at least several independent booksellers have something to smile about. Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona; Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California; and The King's English in Salt Lake City, Utah, were among those that offered customers storewide sales on New Year's Day, and the results were profitable, to say the least.

"We had a blowout sale this year," said Changing Hands co-owner Gayle Shanks. "We took in over $51,000 in nine hours. If you've ever wondered if people were reading in this country, you should been in the store that day."

The 33-year-old bookstore has offered a New Year's Day sale for the past 18 years. For this year's event, customers received 25 percent off everything in the store with the exception of some consignment pieces. When Changing Hands first started its New Year's tradition, it offered a 15 percent discount, one percentage point for each year it had been in business. Shanks explained, "We then gave one more percentage point [discount] each year, and we stopped at 25." Response to the sale has grown over the years, but, she added, "It's never been as big a deal as in the last six or seven years."

To keep operations running smoothly, a staff member on a ladder in the checkout area directed lines of customers to the 12 cash registers. "It's very well organized," Shanks said. "And we sell a lot of books that would otherwise have to be returned. If other stores aren't doing this, they're missing the boat." When the wait at the register stretched to an hour, Changing Hands provided customers with snacks from a neighboring restaurant.

The sale is publicized via store channels only -- an e-mail blast via Constant Contact, in-store fliers, and verbal invitations to customers throughout the month of December. "We call it our Customer Appreciation Day," Shanks said. "It's really the only true sale we have during the year."

The key to ensuring that the whole operation runs smoothly, said Shanks, is taking care of staff. The store opens at noon, so everyone can sleep in, food is provided, and there are lots of breaks and changes of posts. "They come in bleary-eyed, but by 12:15 staff is raring to go. We all have a lot of fun that day."

Booksellers thinking about launching their own New Year's Day sales in 2008 "shouldn't think they're going to do $50,000 their first day," warned Shanks. "We've built ours slowly, and now customers look forward to it. It's become part of their family tradition, part of what they do for the holidays."

Bookshop Santa Cruz also has a long tradition of opening its doors on New Year's Day, said manager Casey Coonerty Protti. Of this year's event, she noted, "We were pretty packed. It's not as busy as the Saturday before Christmas, but it's definitely one of our top days." Staying open serves the dual purpose of selling off inventory instead of returning it, as well as "giving people who don't watch football something to do," she added.

The store offers 20 percent off hardcovers and 50 percent off calendars. To promote the event, Bookshop Santa Cruz sent out thousands of postcards, displayed large signs on the street and in-store, and distributed fliers on the days between Christmas and New Year's. Coonerty Protti noted that in the past the bookstore had been one of the only stores open in the neighborhood, but that's now changing.

Salt Lake's The King's English began staying open on New Year's Day relatively recently. "We started opening on New Year's because of Gayle [Shanks' experiences]," explained Betsy Burton.

Now, Burton said, she "absolutely wouldn't miss it. The sale is not our top-selling day, but it's right behind our top-selling day."

The King's English offers 25 percent off everything in the store and provides customers with the choice of champagne, Alka Seltzer, or club soda and orange juice. "The champagne is really important," Burton told BTW. "It adds an air of festivity that makes the day so much fun."

The King's English informs its customers about the sale through a postcard mailing and its e-mail newsletter.

"At first I thought opening on New Year's Day would be so painful," said Burton. "We're all so tired after Christmas. But it's such an up day; everyone just loves it. I wouldn't miss it for the world." --Karen Schechner