• You understand the market and have an idea of what kind of products will or will not sell;


• You are willing to put effort into altering your business;


• You see that a change needs to be made, due to shrinking sales or increased expenses;


• You feel you need a new segment of customers, because the regular crowd is shrinking, dying off, or spending less.

Customers who love a magazine so much that they must have it every month are going to pay for the subscription -- at a cover-price discount -- and have it arrive at their door every month. Bookstore customers are looking for a magazine that they have never seen before, and will buy it on the spot if it appeals to them.

The ideal places for magazines are mixed with the books, and at the counter. There's a reason grocery stores and KMart have the celebrity-interest magazines at the checkout: people grab them as they walk by and toss them on the conveyor belt. These sorts of magazines belong at the counter in your store as well, for the exact same reason.

Topical magazines should be in small racks in the area of your bookstore that readers looking for the magazine would most likely hang out: science with science, computers with computers, sports with sports. A customer finding the Farve book is going to be more likely to grab this month's Sports Illustrated nearby than to wander through the magazine racks in search of the magazine. WalMart partially does this, with video game magazines near the videogames and Field & Stream in the sporting goods area.

4. Do not devote large sales areas to 'big name' books, nor technical titles, nor time-sensitive books. Customers are not looking for those books at your store, as they're more likely found at the superbookstores or online at discount. The "Learn Macromedia MX" books will be outdated in months when the new version comes out; even if they are returnable, enormous effort goes into sorting the books out, and money remains tied up in stock that has little window for a browsing customer to find it.

Now, this isn't to say the big-name books should be banned. They do sell, but they sell without advertising or special placement: if a person hasn't already heard of the new Harry Potter book, then they are probably not interested in it. Devote large sales areas to the books that could use some help: the local author, obscure Halloween books when October rolls around, books your employees like.

5. 5-foot-tall bookshelves may make space look larger, but a 6-foot-tall bookshelf adds room for many more books in the same floorspace. I'm not the tallest of customers, but bookstores I've been in recently seem to be designed for short people; if the top of a sales fixture is 5' off the ground, the top shelf is around 4', so customers are constantly looking down for books. Taller bookshelves will bring more books to eye-level.

6. Events remind people that your store sells books. Find the local sitar player to perform every Wednesday, have a poetry slam, get every local author to do signings, have experts from the local college talk on subjects for which new books have been written: This may not result in instant sales, but it reminds customers that your store exists. Also, events can get your store listed for free in the newspaper: community calendars are often begging for events to list. They're not going to list book release dates, but a speech by the local Civil War expert can mysteriously coincide with the release of a new Civil War book.

7. Store hours can be from 2pm - 11pm. There's no reason to open the store at 9 simply because neighboring stores do; marketing and event promotion will educate customers as to store hours, but only being open when many people are at work cuts into the customer base. It's more frustrating for a gainfully-employed person to be turned away at 7:30pm by a bookstore that closed at 7 than it is for the person with their whole day available to come back in a few hours. Employee wages are also a significant impact on overhead; being open fewer hours, when more customers are available, will produce higher profits.

8. Have a way for customers to electronically search your inventory on their own, or have this information readily available. Customers on a quest are turned away by the slightest difficulty; many will turn to your store first, rather than 'giving money to the big corporations,' but if they cannot get a simple answer to their request, they will go elsewhere. Computerise your inventory, have a terminal available to customers, or have someone on-hand who understands the computer system and can get search results for a customer instantly. This does not mean the inventory is on a website, although this would be helpful to customers looking for a local shop online.

9. Make customer orders simple. Even if all you're doing is placing the order at Amazon.com and having it ready to be picked up next Monday, customers appreciate the service. If you can order books at wholesale cost through your distributor and have it arrive quickly, offer the service to customers. Hang large signs that say this is available. Pad your shipping costs if you must. Once a customer is in your store, closing a sale should be paramount, regardless if the book is actually on the shelf in an obvious spot.

10. See what deals are available with your distributor or individual publishers. Buying books non-returnable might get a greater discount, or insist on recieving the deeper discounts that the big-box bookstores get. Middlemen are notoriously ready to wheel-and-deal; don't just flip through the catalog and pay whatever it says. Grocery stores and department stores regularly do the same. Small publishers, who have great difficulty getting their wares in the big venues, may be very willing to do direct negotiation, even if they already have a distributor.

11. Have space available for meetings and clubs. Book clubs are a big deal today, but other groups are also in need of space. Here in Fargo, the 2600 club (a group of hackers) meets at Barnes & Noble regularly; it used to be near the westerly phones in the mall (spooky), but there's more room and softer chairs at B&N. Quality bookstores have long devoted space to chairs and low tables: the space saved by eliminating magazines and having taller bookshelves could easily be put towards a handful of nice chairs, with a dozen folding chairs in the back room when needed.

12. Trust employee recommendations, and order books accordingly. Nothing's worse than the "Employees Recommend" shelf barren because all the books were picked up by trusting customers. Get recommendation lists ahead of time, and add a couple to your weekly/monthly order. Use the employee's name in the recommendation sign, and customers will learn who they trust. It will create customers that see Bill as a friend, even if they've never spoken to him, which then produces a customer that trusts your store.

User Comments

Chairs. Chairs. Chairs. Our local independant bookstore has the right idea: they have a deal with a recliner company, where they also sell recliners as well as books. The recliners are advertised by having several of them scattered around for customers to sit and read in. Several as in twenty or more. I'm sure the impulse buys are much greater if people are given the chance to get comfortable and read, rather than browse while standing. I can go into a Barnes and Noble and walk out with nothing, but if I have read a few chapters of something while visiting this store (even out of boredom, and this store is a great "hang-out" spot) I always end up buying it. Posted by Summer, 08/16/2005 20:17:43

Devote as much floor space as possible to recommended books of any type, including employee recommendations, recommendations from local critics (newspapers, alt weeklies), and book club recommendations. If the buyer already knows the author and title of the book they're looking for, they're more likely to go to Amazon rather than sifting through your fiction A-Z. Posted by Gary, 08/16/2005 21:33:41

Customers who love a magazine so much that they must have it every month are going to pay for the subscription -- at a cover-price discount -- and have it arrive at their door every month. Bookstore customers are looking for a magazine that they have never seen before, and will buy it on the spot if it appeals to them. As a magazine nut, I completely disagree with this. I've never bought a subscription in my life and buy, from the rack, the same mags every month, almost without exception. In addition, to my knowledge, unsold mags are returnable for 100% of the cost. Yeah, it takes work but I believe the profit margin on a mag is the same or better than most books, no? That said, I think a lot of the decision regarding carrying mags depends on things like if you have a good mag-only store in your area, what titles you plan to carry, if you have staff who know what to stock, etc. I just don't think you should write them off altogether. Otherwise, excellent post, imo. Posted by dobbs, 08/16/2005 23:32:56

From what I remember, Unsold Mags get de-covered and tossed in the trash when the new ones arrive. Or so my dumpster diving buddies tell me. Posted by Random_Tangent, 08/16/2005 23:58:26

Random_Tangent: They're de-covered so the covers can be returned to the distributor/publisher as proof the magazine was unsold, so they can get a return credit without shipping the whole magazine. dobbs: As for my concern about magazines, the returnability is irrelevant; my concern is the amount of space devoted to magazines compared to the value of other uses of the same space (book sales, community space, etc.) when the magazines could take up space in related topical areas where they're more likely to sell. While I admire your devotion to buying magazines at your favorite bookshop, I doubt it's a common practice when a cover price is $5 but annual subscriptions can be had for under $20. Small bookstores can no longer survive off that sort of customer devotion; business sense and perspective needs to prevail. Posted by Derek Dahlsad, 08/17/2005 01:11:22

i don't think any small bookstore owner who has seen the business dwindling the past few years really has money lying around to buy up the whole building. just a thought. Posted by Jonas!, 08/17/2005 07:38:18

Regarding raising shelf height from 5' to 6': I read an interesting article about research Office Max did on the layout of retails spaces, and one of the conclusions they came to is that stacking inventory higher than head-level is not a good idea. The inventory that's up there doesn't move, and people don't like the enclosed feeling it creates. They also deteremined that aisles should be wide, because if someone does a "butt brush" to get by you while you're inspecting an item, you're way less likely to buy it. Stuff like that. Walk into an Office Max and check out the way its designed - everything is very deliberate. I'm not sure how applicable it is to bookstores, but if you're like me, you tilt your head to one side while browsing a bookshelf. It's hard for me to look up with my head tilted like that. Since most people are under 6', five seems like a reasonable height. Posted by scarabic, 08/17/2005 09:52:23

The successful small bookstores I have known tend to have relatively narrow aisles and high shelves. They want to have a lot of books and to give the sense of offering a lot of books. As for magazines, either keep them to a minimum or go whole hog. Our local bookstore has a 60' wall of magazines including lots of local interest on skateboarding, hunting, history, solar power, business, computers and the like. The old Reading International at Harvard Square used this formula and Manhattan has lots of those tiny 10,000 magazines, 1,000 newspaper shops. The only proviso, use dense racking and sort by genre. As for downtown locations, it does make sense to buy, if you can afford it. Lots of downtowns have various "urban renewal" deals with good financing, and a downtown location often puts you near the courthouse, college or hospital, so you get casual customers during the day. Posted by Kaleberg, 08/17/2005 16:15:18

If you have book clubs meeting in your store, advertise the books they are reading. Offer them discounts on those books. Let them order the books through the store. Let your employees help run the clubs while on the clock. Posted by Helge, 08/17/2005 18:48:29

Taller shelves = more books. The local Borders has short shelves in most places, perfect example of their 'mile-wide-inch-deep' approach. Taller stuff near the walls proves that people will look up. My favorite bookstores have shelves going up as high as I can read (7 feet?). Have no idea if the numbers of books moving off those top shelves is lower than those below, but if the first part of the S authors is on the upper shelf, I'll be looking through them standing tall, or grabbing a handy stool. One thing I've seen to avoid: piles of books along the floor in front of the shelves. Posted by Metropolitan, 08/17/2005 18:53:05

Develop a reputation as an exhaustive source for a specific subject area: cooking, local history, transportation, the Civil War, sports, jazz artists, science fiction/fantasy, whatever. But really know your stuff, be very willing to share knowledge and stay on top of what's being published on the subject both in the U.S. and abroad. Posted by Torrie, 08/18/2005 00:23:59

Excellent article.. my interest is understanding strategies for smaller (or individual) businesses surviving and thriving in the BIG is beautiful business models. This is very interesting. Posted by Madhu, 08/18/2005 21:00:16

My husband and I run one of the last 20 or so independent bookstores in Iowa (we also rent/sell musical instruments and accessories & sheet music, CDs/DVDs and train and coin supplies, etc...--we ONLY survive in our market of 15,000 because we are a lot of things to a lot of people). We have implemented many of your ideas already (reducing our magazine offerings, promoting as many local and Iowa books as possible through signings and other events, selling shelf-worn and yellowed stock as "USED" at reduced prices, etc...)We find all of these as useful suggestions. But, we perceive the biggest challenges for all independent retailers and one-of-a kind "mom&pops" to be 1)the underlying psychology of today's shopper 2)the change in the larger economic framework under which me must all operate (i.e., our economy is now driven by large retail "bottom dollar" dynamics rather than innovation & manufacturing of years past. To address my first point. I have noticed that many people under 50 would prefer the "stress-free" anonymity of shopping online. There is no pressure to interact with yet another human being. Some similar dynamics apply to shopping outside your local community at large malls or chain retailers. You, presumably, get the bargain as well as none of the hassles of interacting with someone whom you might have to run into again in your town (if you're having a bad day, you can get by with taking your mood out on a stranger more readily that with a neighbor). Regarding my second point above, the dynamics of global retail/bottom-dollar driven economics are not new. But we at least need to be clear that there needs to be an acknowledgement that they affect our local economies in ways that we need to remember when it comes time to vote. Any feedback or suggestions? Posted by Elaine, 08/19/2005 10:41:35

Having kept a small alternative bookshop running for ten years, through three changes of premises (one forced by terrorist bomb, the other by landlords selling the building) and recently sold it, I have only one thing to add to your excellent suggestions: coffee. Providing coffee (and, in our case, tea) is a superb incentive to stay and makes the place feel homely and comfortable. The shop is still active and still doing very well. Posted by Adrian Bott, 08/22/2005 17:58:25

I walked into a used bookstore in NYC this past June, one in my neighborhood; I put $20 worth of books on the counter, pulled out my MasterCard; and was told: "$30 minimum for cards." My suggestion: Do -> Not <- develop a plan for going out of business. I could have purchased the same books from Amazon for *less* money. But I like, and feel strongly that I need to for my own sake, to support local business, businesses in my neighborhood (lower NYC, FYI) so I found one that would offer me the service I needed. Another way of looking at this is: don't ever tell someone how to spend their money in your shop; they'll always go elsewhere to spend their money. Posted by J. A., 08/22/2005 22:59:00

I agree with Torrie's comment above. A specialization makes all the difference. Borderlands, a great, funky indie SciFi, SciFant bookstore in SF's Mission District keeps funky hours, caters to a religious clientele ("You didn't read the 80th installment of DragonLance?"), has good chairs, mixes a 60/40 new/used ratio, and has a fur-less cat named Ripley running about. Posted by Steven G. Harms, 08/23/2005 09:21:19

I'd like to comment on Elaine's post, if I may... As a person with a retail-rap-sheet as long as my arm, including book store work, I respecfully disagree that those under 50 prefer the anonymity of shopping online. It may seem that way, but only because most of them are familiar with it. How many are familiar with real customer service, with a shopping atmosphere that goes beyond 'warehouse?' People enjoy some privacy in bookstores -- the quiet space library mentality lingers. But *nothing*, I repeat nothing replaces the tactile experince of shopping. A search engine does not compete with a browsing experience -- unless you know the exact title you want. (And even then, your store, your staff ought to be able to compete!). Browsing, reading spines, hefting tomes, flipping through pages, all of this is not something that can be duplicated online. And customer service goes past 'thank you' at the counter, having books in stock or the ability to order them. I'll be addressing these points at length in entries in the blog soon. I just wanted to make a quick post now, to alert you ;) Posted by Deanna Dahlsad, 08/23/2005 10:47:02

To your list I would add the following: All books printed on demand are not subsidy published. Be more open to books from legitimate small and mid-sized publishers based on their quality and content rather than the method used to publish them. Be willing to negotiate--even though cash flow is slow, it's not going to break the bank to order a copy or two paid up front and replace as desired (or not). Print-on-demand books are never out of stock, so there's no need to invest a whole bunch of money in a whole bunch of books. Posted by Elizabeth Burton, 08/27/2005 11:40:10

I’d just like to add some comments having run a successful bookstore for over twenty years. Mix new and used. Duh, most of my sales are on used books. As for owning your own building, lend me the money and I would. Anyone interested? Magazines, I agree, take up far too much space. Let the convenience store handle those sales. And as for technical titles, again, they are a total waste of space and become dated before you can put them on the shelf. As for store hours, you’re completely wrong. You DO have to open when other shops around you are open. Nobody is going to do two bouts of shopping. When one goes out to get bread and books, if the bread shop is open and you’re not, they ain’t coming back, mate. Electronic searching is for the big guys. I thought we were talking small bookstores. You should know your inventory. Obviously it’s impossible to know everything but you should at least know where to look. Besides, you have the most powerful computer in the world; it’s called your brain. Have space available for meetings and clubs? Get serious. Once again, I thought we were talking small bookstores, and furthermore, 99% of my space goes to my merchandise. I want to make money, not run a social club. And I really must take objection to chairs, posted by Summer. I’m not here to provide a place for people to sit and read. I exist to run a business, not a library. Let people browse for as long as they want but if you have any business acumen then you’ll realise you want a customer to come in, browse (help them out if necessary), select, pay, and get out. Why in heaven’s name would I want someone in my shop, not buying but reading, for four hours and then just leave? It’s insane. Finally, the coffee issue. Again, what’s the point in serving something for free that can potentially damage my merchandise? It’s stupid. They get free coffee, spill it on an expensive book, and hey, I’m out of pocket. Have a bowl of free sweets, like jelly beans or cinnamon hearts, at the check out counter. Customers love that. Indeed, you can match them with the time of year. Chocolate eggs for Easter, candy canes for Christmas, etc. I could go on and on, but overall, you’re right. I should have left at the beginning. Posted by Monserrat, 09/08/2005 10:49:50

I am in total agreement with Monserrat's posting. I too have owned and operated a small bookstore for over 20 years and have no room for more than one big overstuffed chair (customers have to wait their turn), no room for a book club (though I sell discounted books to them), no short shelves (I have them 7 feet tall with an extra foot at the top for the overstocked copies stacked crossways, and would NEVER encourage someone to offer food and drink with their book business (sticky soiled books and crumbs throughout!). With that being said some of the things that have helped me survive with a Barnes and Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks, Costco, and Walmart all within 10 miles are: Go with the more obscure books for your new choices, people will find the N. Roberts, and S. Kings at the chain stores or supermarkets and you'll be stuck with your copies. Have your recommended reads right up front to catch the eye of the speedy shopper. Also I have several shelves of "If you like...then try..." that will give people some new ideas. I am in a strip mall simply because that was what I could afford when I started out. An old house would be great but who has the money! On the plus side you get LOTS of walk in's that were going for a loaf of bread or a movie and saw your store. A good 1/2 of my business are walk ins. Try to get a copy machine if you have space or maybe be a UPS drop, this way you get a lot of customers in for another reason and they will usually end up buying a book while they're there. Host a booksigning a couple of times a year! Ask the authors your customers love, the worst they can do is say no thank you. I have gotten some big authors to come by and had a successful signing. Posted by peggy, 09/21/2005 17:08:22

I am intrigued yet confused by the following comments posted by J.A. on 08/22/05: "My suggestion: Do -> Not <- develop a plan for going out of business." "Another way of looking at this is: don't ever tell someone how to spend their money in your shop; they'll always go elsewhere to spend their money." Posted by Walt, 02/07/2006 07:40:40

There is an amazing amount of experience in this post. Do you have to have permission from authors to sell used books? Thanks Posted by lea, 09/06/2006 21:41:49

No, you don't. Posted by Man, 09/12/2006 23:55:55

Help! I need maketing ideas for my Christian Book Store...the store is located near several churches and in a very large housing community. Posted by Ebony Carson, 12/31/2006 15:48:39

We are an independent publisher. I hear exactly what you are saying loud and clear. Since publishing our first and second novel, we are learning that big chains have a lot of rules and ways of not letting you come to the party. Therefore, the independent bookstores need to remain in our country anyway they can... And yes, buying land and a building in our downtown is a one million dollar investment. I'm not getting that from the bookstores our books are in...by that, I mean wealth. I love the remark about the bookstores of the old days that had floorboards that squeaked. If anybody would like to email me their thoughts about getting our books into bookstores, plese do. Posted by Robyn Whyte, 01/22/2007 20:22:12

I want to open up my own inspirational bookstore and coffee shop. Please give me some additional feedback. Posted by gerald sheaffer, 06/18/2007 18:59:19

Actually, it's a question. I will soon come into some inheritance money that I would like to use to open a used book store. I don't have a clue where to begin, but I have always wanted to do this and I might be able to now. Do you know a good source for buying used books in bulk? What can I expect to spend to start up with? Thank you for any advice you have to offer. Debbie B. Posted by Deborah Born, 07/25/2007 20:24:20

I want to open a book store but have no idea where to find a distributor... any information appreciated. Posted by shanna, 10/22/2007 02:08:09

Because I do not have the time or money to open a physical bookstore (yet), I am going with this Bookwise company. I am doing this for a variety of reasons, the first being that I bleive in the power of books to change people's lives. If we had to depend upon WalMary to let us know which books we could buy, it would be a sorry sorry world. Posted by Mary Griffin, 10/27/2007 16:44:10

I'm looking to possibly start a used bookstore. I'm looking for partners. Send me an email to ericsnyder338@hotmail.com if you're interested. Posted by Eric, 11/11/2007 18:50:00

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We are a new publisher who has several nice titles and would love to have them in bookstores. We don't have a distributor yet and are looking for ways to get our titles out to the public. Our authors would also like to provide "events" in the form of book signings at any stores willing to host them. If you are interested in this type of thing, please contact me. I think we could work well together and sell some books. Thanks for your time. Posted by Robin Surface, 01/27/2008 19:15:54

Great comments. As a frequenter of bookstores who is middleaged and moderately tall, I suggest that books never be put on the bottom shelf except in the children's section. Bending down to look at the bottom shelf while holding a pile of selections is awkward and often results in just passing up that shelf. Why not use the bottom area for large print signs about the topics in the shelves above? Putting books on a 6 book shelf is not a problem, but 7 feet tall is iffy and footstools are a liability problem -- another good area for large-print directional signs. Posted by Margaret, 04/18/2008 12:34:32