Taking on Competitors and Growing the Bookstore

At ABA's Day of Education, to be held Thursday, May 31, at Hotel ABA, the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, two educational sessions will take on subjects that are crucial to the survival of independent booksellers in today's marketplace: growing the bookstore and staving off the competition.

Expanding Your Bookstore: Why, When, and How
Hotel ABA: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. in Ballroom A/B, and again from 1:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. in Ballroom H

In the past two years, about 200 independent bookstores opened; the last time the independent bookselling industry experienced similar growth was in the late 1970s and early '80s. "Looking at which stores from that era are still thriving today is a very enlightening exercise," said ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz. "When you study the stores that are still in business and profitable today, one thing becomes clear: By and large the bookstores that survived started small, while having a plan and a strategy for growth."

This fact is confirmed by the findings of recent ABACUS studies that consistently show that stores below a certain sales volume are much less likely to be profitable. The ABACUS data "demonstrates that one way to grow your sales is to grow your store," Domnitz said.

"Expanding Your Bookstore," which will be presented by Domnitz as part of ABA's Day of Education, will examine the reasons for store expansion and the when and how of remodeling existing space, growing existing space, finding new space, and opening a second location. The session is aimed at owners and managers from stores having sales of less than $1,000,000 per year.

What to Do When the Competition Comes to Town: A Case Study
Hotel ABA: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. in Ballroom H/I and again from 3:30 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Ballroom H

Prince Books, a 25-year-old independent bookstore in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, has strong roots in the community. But, like so many other towns across America, things are changing in Norfolk -- namely, the competition is coming to town. Barnes & Noble will be opening a 27,000-square-foot bookstore just about three-tenths of a mile away from Prince Books, and Follett will be opening a bookstore nearby at Old Dominion University.

"What to Do When the Competition Comes to Town, " presented by ABA COO Oren Teicher and Sarah Pishko of Prince Books, will be the first in a planned series of sessions that will track Prince Books' response to its prospective competition.

"It became clear to us that by studying the situation in Norfolk, there was an opportunity for other booksellers to benefit from the knowledge and experience that Prince Books would gain from preparing to meet this challenge," said Teicher. "What's occurring now in Norfolk is, unfortunately, all too common in towns and cities throughout the U.S. This is the landscape that many of our members face, so it provides an opportunity to learn how to stand up to the competition and not only survive, but thrive."

The session at ABA's Day of Education will set the stage, examining the steps needed for a bookseller to put together a cohesive plan to address the coming competition. Future sessions will report on the implementation of that plan. View a short video introduction to this session on YouTube. -David Grogan