Books loom large over Sheila Butterworth as she shifts a volume here and there in her store. The shelves at the Bookworm are wall to wall, floor to ceiling, making her seem even more petite than she is—but she has complete control over her towering inventory. Ask her for a specific book—say, something fondly remembered from childhood—and she’ll immediately answer in her charming English accent, “We had three of those in, and I believe there is one left. Check the very back shelf.”
And there, exactly where she said it would be, is a copy of that nostalgic book, maybe slightly frayed at one corner but otherwise just as good as it was when first read. There’s no ordering or downloading necessary, no looking at an inventory list, no technical interference at all. Just a sweet little lady with a love of books, a penchant for filtering the negative and looking at the positive, and a genuine love of helping people.
That’s exactly why some independent booksellers are able to compete with corporate retailers and survive in this economy. They gain a loyal customer following by feeding a passion that booklovers have, doing it personably, and making reading and buying books an affordable hobby.
The Internet hasn’t killed the bookworm
Butterworth doesn’t like to think in terms of whether the economy is in a recession, of who is faring well and why. She admits to feeling that there’s too much negativity drawing attention away from the good in the world. She’ll quickly shift from talking books to talking about positive experiences—hers or others’. Often, her stories will start off terribly sad until she twists the plot to highlight the positive. She likes doing that—shifting people’s perspectives. It’s evident as she freely hands out gratitude stones to customers and explains how to look upon the glistening surface at times when it’s important to remember what you’re thankful for.
In turn, she’s thanked in other ways, mainly with the loyalty and kindness of her customers.
“I get cookies all the time, pound cake and pumpkin bread, strawberries,” she said.
Though she likes to focus on the personal rewards of her success, she admits she’s doing just fine financially and said the people who are really hurting are the people who sell new books. For used-books sellers, the advantage is something intangible.
“There’s a difference in someone little like us. It becomes family,” she said.
That sense of family also attracts families. Don’t tell Butterworth that people aren’t reading as much or that digital books have replaced traditional books. Don’t tell her that children are more interested in television or video games than paperbacks these days. In her experience, that just isn’t the case.
“I see families come in together to read. I’ve seen little kids buy Mama a $5 gift certificate because she likes to read, and that’s all the money they have,” Butterworth said.
She says children come in bringing the books they’ve outgrown, and they trade those books for other books.
In this economy, it’s a value to shop for used books. The Bookworm offers 40 percent credit on the next book customers purchase when they bring in one for trade.
The books she can’t use she supplies to the prison and jails. Butterworth even has stories about inmates who have turned their lives around after reading a book, possibly one she donated.
“Books can be wonderful, wonderful things,” she said. “They inspire people. They help people.”
Making the old a little newer
Some people like the hunt, looking for that certain out-of-print book they can’t find anywhere else. Some like the surprise of finding a cover that jumps out at them, taking it home, and discovering an inspiring tale. Most of them love the tactile sense of physically holding a book, the fragile feel of the pages, the crisp or sometimes crackly sound the paper makes as it’s moved. That tactile sense keeps them coming back for more. And when they want more, Laurette Oien is there for them, with a fresh selection, a cozy corner, and a hot brew.
Three years ago, Oien and her sister Cathy Howe-Mendoza bought 2 Sisters Bookstore, which had been in its current location since the ’60s. Back then, Oien and her sister would visit the shop with their mother, who, like Howe-Mendoza, is an avid reader.
“I have never known anyone who read as much as them until I bought this store,” Oien said.
When they purchased the store—and, by extension, its loyal customers—they knew that in order to compete with big retailers, the shop would need a makeover, not just in appearance but in the perception of what a used bookstore really is.
The store is bright with splashes of color and art on the walls. It has an eclectic, funky vibe that the sisters have carefully cultivated. Oien talks about wanting the store to have the feel of a bookstore in San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara.
“Used bookstores just aren’t what they used to be,” she explained.
In the back of the store is a place to sit and meet and make a coffee or cappuccino. The shelves are painted to reflect genre themes: thriller, suspense, romance, etc.
Oien and her sister were advised to focus on a niche.
“We decided to focus on the paranormal and mysticism, because that is my sister’s thing, so we more than doubled the amount of books we had on the subject,” Oien said.
They then alphabetized the books, putting them into categories instead of the hodgepodge that was there before. Then they expanded beyond books.
“We knew in order to be competitive we needed more than just books, so we added the gift shop,” Oien said.
The combination seems to have worked.
“We’ve actually done really well with the recession,” Oien said. “We’re up 33 percent this year.”
Big Box takes on books
Such success isn’t always the case for independent booksellers. Many have fallen victim to the recession, as well as the digital age and the ease with which shoppers can download books. The battle between mega box stores for the lowest-priced bestsellers is leaving some independent booksellers—especially those selling new books—unable to compete.
“It’s difficult, it remains difficult and especially difficult in the book retail business because the margins are so slim,” said Meg Smith, chief marketing officer of the American Booksellers Association.
In fact, the association asked the Department of Justice in October to open an investigation into what it called “price wars.”
Smith declined to comment on the DOJ request until there’s more news about its status, but the letter asks the department to investigate practices by Amazon.com, Target, and Wal-Mart—practices the ABA believes constitute illegal predatory pricing.
At the time of the letter, ABA accused the retailers of waging price wars on the pre-sale of new hardcover bestsellers from John Grisham, Stephen King, Barbara Kingsolver, Sarah Palin, and James Patterson. The books generally retail for $25 to $35, but were being offered for between $8.98 and $9.
Because retailers buy the books at 45 percent to 50 percent off, independent stores have a slim margin to play with in terms of slashing prices and still turning a profit. For example, a $35 book costs a retailer $17.50 or more to purchase. The ABA letter stated that it doesn’t believe publishers are arranging better deals for the big retailers, but that the retailers are simply taking a loss to gain better control over the market.
For independent booksellers, such a loss would be unreasonable at best, financial suicide at worst.
And sometimes it’s not just independent booksellers that can’t keep up. With the recent announcement that B. Dalton Booksellers would be closing in January, Santa Maria loses one more bookstore. The demise of B. Dalton, a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble, was part of a larger effort of the parent company to slim down and focus on its large chain stores by closing the much smaller shops, according to reports. Locally, B. Dalton employees aren’t allowed to comment to the press about the closing.
But a few blocks away on Main Street, Oien wonders if its closing will affect her clients. Many of her customers would purchase the latest bestsellers at the chain store and then sell them used to 2 Sisters for credit on some used books.
“The advantage is we have people who can buy new arrivals and then trade them in for credit,” she said. “When you have people who read a lot, it’s value, it’s money.”
Oien said a woman recently bought $200 worth of books at her shop, and pointed out to Oien that the volumes she just purchased would have cost much more had she found them new.
In this economy, finding value in deals is becoming fashionable again. That’s one reason why independent used booksellers have taken a competitive advantage. Another way for independent booksellers to gain the upper hand on their big box competitors is to win the hearts of loyal customers in the community—two concepts both 2 Sisters and the Bookworm have latched onto.
“We’re finding that the booksellers who do the best are the ones with their feet very much in the ground and entrenched in their community,” ABA’s Smith said. “They have loyal followers and strong community support. The more a store is settled in the community, the more they are able to ride out the bad times.”
Other things that impact stores are their locations, competition from big box stores, undercapitalization, or an owner’s skills. While the ABA is trying to fight Goliath, it’s also involved in helping to better prepare store owners with continuing education and skills workshops.
“We really believe that this kind of professional development is important,” Smith said. “People are making very careful decisions about where they spend their money.”
Smith said it’s too early to tell how many of its member booksellers are faring well this year because the all-important holiday shopping season hasn’t yet officially gotten underway, but last year ABA board members were pleasantly surprised.
“Last year at this time, we felt that way and we had our fingers crossed that our members would survive,” she said, “and we were surprised that a lot more than we thought actually survived.”
That doesn’t surprise Oien, however. To her and fellow booklovers, it’s a hobby you account for when planning your finances.
“People are always ready for more,” she said. “People on a fixed budget, budget that in their monthly expenses. If you’re a reader, you are a reader.”
Arts Editor Shelly Cone is going home to read a book right now. Don’t contact her at scone@santamariasun.com until she’s done.
This article appears in Dec 3-10, 2009.