ABA/GLBA Booksellers Forum Goes to Indiana

The American Booksellers Association will be holding a Booksellers Forum and Education Program in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA), at Mitchell Books in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, on Tuesday, April 12, from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Lunch is included.

All ABA and regional association members (owners and staff) are invited to attend the events, which include an educational component and an update on ABA programs and initiatives. ABA encourages bookstore owners to bring along staff members, as well as themselves. These sessions offer a broader perspective on how individual stores fit into the larger industry, and can provide lots of valuable information. ABA senior staff will answer booksellers' questions, and participants will come away from the meetings with a broader perspective on how their individual stores fit into the larger book industry.

ABA-sponsored events begin at 10:00 a.m. with the two-hour session "Cost of Goods Sold 101." This seminar for owners, managers, and booksellers, expands upon the Gross Margin/Cost of Goods Sold component of the well received "2% Solution" seminar offered this past fall. It will examine what Cost of Goods Sold is, how it fits into and affects a bookstore's operating results, and finally, the best, easiest, most accurate way to calculate it. Simply put, an owner cannot know if his or her bookshop is profitable if the Cost of Goods Sold is incorrect.

Following lunch, ABA will hold a Booksellers Forum, where attendees can ask questions, express opinions, and hear from their bookseller colleagues. ABA CEO Avin Domnitz, ABA COO Oren Teicher, and BookSense.com Director, Len Vlahos, will be present to provide an update on association programs and initiatives.

From 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. will be the ABACUS Workshop. Booksellers who bring their fiscal 2004 financial statements will receive one-on-one help in completing the 2005 ABACUS survey, as well as a coupon for $50 off their next ABA dues renewal. The ABACUS study is helping all independent booksellers by establishing a standard against which a store's financial results can be measured.

Mitchell Books is located at 6360 W. Jefferson Blvd in Fort Wayne, Indiana [(260) 432-2665]. Booksellers planning to attend are asked to RSVP to Kristen Gilligan at [email protected].

For more information about GLBA, please visit www.books-glba.org, or contact Jim Dana at (800) 745-2460 or [email protected].