Chicago Indie Featured in Bank of America Ads

Ulrich Sandmeyer of Sandmeyer's Bookstore heeded well the old retail adage "location, location, location," when he founded his business more than 20 years ago. Now he has parlayed that location -- in a quaint, old loft district of Chicago -- into the store's appearance in a national ad campaign for Bank of America. In a full-page, color Bank of America advertisement, which ran in newspapers throughout the country, including the November 20 edition of the New York Times, the Sandmeyer's name was prominently displayed on a woman's shopping bag in a picture that was taken right outside the bookstore.

Sandmeyer said that the Bank of America ad opportunity came about as a result of the store's longtime relationship with a Chicago-area location scout. The neighborhood where the store is located, on South Dearborn Street, also known as Printer's Row, has a picturesque, 19th-century look that often attracts the attention of location scouts for movies and photo shoots. "We've been working with a scout for many years," said Sandmeyer, "and they thought this would be a good place [for the Bank of America] photo shoot." He added that the store was paid a "minor amount" of money for the advertisement since it was filmed outside the bookstore.

The Bank of America ad shows two young women walking in front of Sandmeyer's Bookstore (though the name is obscured). Both are carrying shopping bags and one has a cup of coffee. On one of the shopping bags, the Sandmeyer's store name, address, and phone number are clearly visible. Other than Bank of America, no other business name is noted in the advertisement.

Initially, the ad didn't call for one of the women to hold the Sandmeyer's bag. That idea came directly from Ulrich. "I pressed the bag into the hands of the people doing the ad," he said.

Though the bookstore has been used for other spots, this is its first national advertisement. "As you can imagine, this has resulted in many calls, though ... we haven't seen any real discernible affect on our bottom line," Ulrich said, adding that the callers fall into three categories:

• Those who want to know if Sandmeyer's is a real bookstore;
• Those who want to order books; and
• Those who are researching their family trees.

"Of course, our customers brought in copies of the ad," Ulrich said, "from Boston, San Jose... It's nice for us. Everyone is in a good mood about this." He added that the ad is also on large, illuminated billboards. "And that's always nice." --David Grogan