January 2012 – Page 3 – The Bookshop Blog

Scary Days for Toronto Bookstores

January 10, 2012 by Matthew Singleton

Every time I tell people I want to open a bookstore I get weird looks that can be roughly translated as “have you really thought this through?” Then they ask me if I know about ebooks and how I feel about having to compete with Chapters/Indigo. I tell them about my business plans and assure them that ebooks will not drive the bricks-and mortar bookstore out of business. This has been a scary few weeks for bookstores in Toronto crossing all genre bounds.

Two weeks ago Glad Day Bookstore, which is considered one of the first LGBT bookstores worldwide (and definitely in Canada) announced that it was up for sale. Last week The Book Mark, widely thought of as the oldest independent bookstores in Toronto, announced it will be closing. Last night I found out that Dragon Lady Comics will be closing its store and moving to online sales at the end of the month. Although I’ve only ever been to one of these three bookstores I know of them all by reputation and they are all widely regarded as high-quality bookstores which have great selections and knowledgeable staff.

Each owner has his or her own reasons for closing, but they all seem to boil down to one basic reason: it’s not financially sustainable to run an independent bookstore in Toronto these days. The owner of Glad Day has said that he has needed to put his own savings into the store to keep it afloat. The owner of the Book Mark cited a rent increase as the reason why the store was going to be closing for good, She did not feel that it was due to difficulty in competing with large chain stores and online retailers or ebooks. Dragon Lady comics pins the reasons for closing the store on less foot-traffic, lower sales, and a rent increase.

Parental Interference Allowed To Run Amuck

January 5, 2012 by Diane Plumley

I don’t know what else to call this unbelievable turn in the issue of censorship and disruption of public school curriculum. I only know that a state I visited and enjoyed, has now become the poster child for backward, dictatorial thinking. The voters of this state should not only be ashamed of themselves for voting … Read more

Is Truth Stranger Than Fiction?

January 5, 2012 by Diane Plumley

A man inside his car at a gas station is shot point blank by a motorcyclist wearing a opaque helmet who then speeds off. After some detective work, they realize the dead man was friends with a former beauty queen, wife of a wealthy prominent restaurant owner. A mother with 9 children–two adopted. And when … Read more

Dead Is The Door-Nail

January 4, 2012 by Diane Plumley

I’ve always heard this expression as: Dead as a door-nail. A rather odd expression to begin with. So I checked on its origins. Apparently no one is absolutely sure of whence the simile came. The best scholars can theorize it is a reference to the nails used on large wooden doors back in the middle … Read more

How to attract customers to your bookshop

January 3, 2012 by Leonid Kouvelis

Success or failure in business comes down to meeting your expenses and hopefully generating enough profit to build a comfortable lifestyle and all this comes down to profitable sales from customers. Having plenty of stock means nothing if you haven’t got the customers to purchase your books, so the fundamental question is: how do you attract customers to your bookshop?
Tell the customers that you are open and ready for business. Hang an “Open” sign on the door or better still have a colourful neon light that flashes on and off. Going to the effort of informing the public that you are open sends the message that you want them in your shop.

Inform the public of your trading hours and stick to them. I’ve got core days and of hours operation but I also inform the public that these are “minimum hours of operation” so that they don’t feel pressured to leave at a set time and it also adds flexibility into opening and closing outside of my core hours.

nice clean bookshop — An uncluttered shop is much more pleasant.

Don’t badger people to come into your shop. I’ve seen the disturbing sight of a haberdasher accosting potential customers from outside the door of her shop. Nothing makes a business reek of imminent financial death more than desperate staff trying to get people to come into their shop. I like to think that I am providing a service to the public that they should appreciate; the general public should think that they are doing themselves a favour by entering my shop, not doing me a favour. Humans are inherently unreliable and self-interest is the primary motivational force in their purchasing activities.

Once in the shop, the customer should be left on their own to browse. I encourage customers to seek advice by putting a sign up that reads “Not on the shelf? It maybe in storage – ask at the counter.” The customer knows where you are: ideally behind the counter ready to provide assistance. Labels should clearly identify categories and authors should be put into alphabetical order for added ease. Magazines should be on magazine stands and books should be readily accessible on the shelf. Books shouldn’t be too tightly shelved and ideally one row of books per shelf. This advice seems like common sense but I’ve walked into bookshops that look like badly run storage rooms with up to three rows of books on shelves with each book camouflaging another and worse still stacks of books on the shop floor.

Make the shop welcoming by keeping it clean. Women especially appreciate a pleasant smelling, clean floor; I mop my floor each and every morning. I have the windows cleaned and the place regularly dusted with a duster. Of course, cleaning is never done and any spare time is spent cleaning the shop of cobwebs and dust. The bookshop manager and his/her staff should look clean and presentable too: I always have a freshly ironed shirt on. As an aside, a presentable shop goes hand in hand with a safe and secure shop. This means having the proper insurance if something should occur. Many bookshop owners take advantage of having their home insurance, car insurance as well as that of the business all wrapped up into one package. The right coverage can mean the difference in being closed for a few weeks or opening the next day after some damage from a break in. Ask a local broker if this can be setup for you.