Opening a bookstore
SpeakEasy Representative
I am anxious to open a bookstore/cafe in Columbus, OH and would like to
hear from anyone in the business who might have some advice, insight or
suggestions for me. I am not looking to make a ton of money in the
business; I just want to enjoy going to work everyday.
Jill
Brian Pomeroy
Based on my limited experience with such establishments, it seems that the
cafe end attracts a lot more attention than the bookstore end. If Columbus
is anything like the Phliadelphia region, it's probably overrun with big
chain stores. You'll need to offer something different to compete. Book
signings, poetry readings, discussion groups, mini-seminars and music
groups are all things you can offer, along with a selection of books and
other items your patrons won't be able to find easily anywhere else. Good
luck!
--
Brian Pomeroy
lu...@voicenet.com
http://www.ison.com/pomeroy/
Author, "BeginnerNet: A Beginner's Guide to the Internet and WWW"
http://www.slackinc.com/books/33225hom.htm
Fred T
SpeakEasy Representative (Jill) wrote:
>I am anxious to open a bookstore/cafe in Columbus, OH and would like to
>hear from anyone in the business who might have some advice, insight or
>suggestions for me. I am not looking to make a ton of money in the
>business; I just want to enjoy going to work everyday.
a book, Building a Dream, Walter s Good, McGraw Hill answer all the
questions first
--
Fred Tully Canadian Virtual Tours, Leduc, Alberta, Canada
fred...@compusmart.ab.ca, site at http://www.compusmart/fredtull
was Civil Engineer, turned computer tutor in Win95, Word, Powerpoint,
Excel, Simply Accounting, and general computer Consultant
Currently Beta testing a virtual classroom CD for PowerPoint, and
starting HTML virtual classroom CD
Marilyn Walker
SpeakEasy Representative <Spea...@ix.netcom.com> writes:
>I am anxious to open a bookstore/cafe in Columbus, OH and would like to
>hear from anyone in the business who might have some advice, insight or
>suggestions for me. I am not looking to make a ton of money in the
>business; I just want to enjoy going to work everyday.
Jill - after wanting to do the same thing myself for many years, I finally
realized in January of this year that I did have the expertise and capital
to open an on-line bookstore (and we open Sunday!). In the interim, I
learned a lot about the book business. A superb source of information is the
American Bookseller's Association. They publish a monthly magazine and
weekly newsletter. For about $200 you get a provisional membership that gets
you a subscription to the mag (newsletter is about $30 more, but is an
eye-opener), and lots of other good info and resources. But just looking at
their website (www.ambook.org) and reading archived copies of Bookselling
This Week will help you get a feel for how things are going. They also run
a school for booksellers, and have a week long class on opening a store. I
didn't take it, as many of the issues for "real" stores are quite different
from those at "virtual" stores, but I definitely would if I were considering
what you are. There is a lot to learn about this business. Also, there is
certainly a regional trade group that you could join (I'm not in your area,
so don't know what it is). I've found that group to be most helpful in some
ways. Our regional group, Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association, has
given me visibility to local publishers reps. They run an annual trade show
that by itself was worth the membership fee.
You should know the bleak side to the book selling industry. The industry,
particularly the "independents" (which you would be) is in turmoil. Store
closings are at an all time high, and many well-established stores are
reporting 20-25% losses of business. The reasons are complex, but certainly
the primary one is the arrival of giant chains (Borders, Barnes and Noble)
that are opening in every city, large and small, and which routinely sell
books at discount. They have copied the "look and feel" of the successful
large independents very well, but they are definitely NOT independent. The
staff there are just staff - buying decisions are made centrally. ABA has
filed (and won) anti-trust lawsuits against many major publishing companies,
forcing them to develop discount practices that are fair to smaller stores.
Other companies have followed suit. That's helped some, but what the
publishers have done at the same time has been to cut sales teams, making
it hard for stores to get visited by reps, and therefore hard to know about
upcoming titles. The ABA trade show, held late spring of each year, has
traditionally been the time at which everyone in the industry comes together.
But now Penguin USA and Random House have pulled out of the show, and Simon
& Schuster and Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux have announced that they will not
attend in 1997. It's a real shame - I found attending that show was the
single best thing I could do. But now publishers can do huge chunks of
business by dealing with only a few stores - they are losing money working
with what is now a very reduced part of their markets.
Things you can do to increase your possibility for success: Many stores are
switching to a different ratio of sidelines to books, because they make more
on the sidelines and that sets them apart from the chains. Specialty stores
are doing well. My own store is very specialized - I'm not about to compete
with well established on-line giants. The two big wholesalers - Ingram Books
and Baker & Taylor, have inventory stocking programs that basically pick the
books for you. Ingram can set you up essentially with a turn key system. I
have no idea how successful those are, but I'd think not very in this
climate. Bringing the customer something unique is the key. Finally, I know
that you don't want to get rich, but just how hard do you want to work and
for little money? Unfortunately, many small bookstore owners find themselves
slaves to a job that ends being less than minimal wage. As much as you love
books, that gets old fast, especially as you will have a large amount of
capital invested. And do you have the capital to do it? ABA can give you
some literature that might help you answer that question. Research research
research, and develop a thorough business plan.
And now that I've scared you, here's the good part - you get to deal with
books and people, and helping them find each other. That is ultimately why
I did this (of course, who's to say if I'll make money doing it or not?).
It is more work than I dreamed of, and more fun, too. Go into this with
your eyes open. I figure that an industry in crisis is an industry with
opportunity. The key is to figure out where you fit in.
Marilyn Walker
***************************************************
Cherry Valley Books
http://www.cherryvalleybooks.com/
Only the Best Children's and Parenting Titles on the WWW
ma...@lilikoi.submm.caltech.edu
sj...@netmatics.com (Scott Jarr) writes:
>Brian Pomeroy <lu...@voicenet.com> wrote:
>>SpeakEasy Representative <Spea...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>>>I am anxious to open a bookstore/cafe in Columbus, OH and would like to
>>>hear from anyone in the business who might have some advice, insight or
>>>suggestions for me. I am not looking to make a ton of money in the
>>>business; I just want to enjoy going to work everyday.
>
>and ..., on the other hand produce a giant profit. I pay ~$2.50 for a
>chocolate type coffee, that can't cost more than $.50 to make.
That's the coffee.
Then comes the rent, the cleaning, wages for whoever makes the coffee and
cleans up, furniture that will at some point need to be bought (and later
replaced), utilities, etc.
>There is always a line for the cafe and people in the cafe are always
>reading something. So the magazines could actually be considered a very
>effective (cheap) way of attracting customers to the more profitable
>portion of your business.
How long do people stay in the cafe spending how much? This needs to be
figured in to see how profitable this part of the business can be.
How much does it cost to operate one hour?
How much do you have to sell to break even?
How much do you have to sell to carry the rent for the bookstore
(and not only the cafe)?
Maren Purves
(after some time of absence)
Neal Hendrickson
RE: Opening a Bookstore and Cafe
Have you written a business plan? I can help you with specifics if you
are interested. Running a business with food involved can be tricky. I
am willing to give some advice if you need. I have food experience and
business plan writing experience. Don't ignore the business plan process.
It really isn't as hard as it may seem. Please email me if you have
questions.
Sincerely, Neal Hendrickson
ne...@pixi.com