Some tips from the Pros on how to operate a successful bookshop.
It’s funny – when I was packing up our 20,000 books and all of the associated detritus that collected along with them over the past five years, I swore that had to be the worst part of the move. Before that, when I was pulling down pink plywood, plastering over holes, sheet rocking and painting, … Read more
Cheap Shelving Cheap shelving for your bookshop can be one of the more difficult decisions for a new shop owner to make. The look and feel of his shop will obviously be affected quite a bit as will his budget. Our bookstore has been open for three and a half years now, long enough to … Read more
by Rachel Jagareski Yet another customer sighs and notes that owning a used bookstore is the ultimate dream job. She muses on how lovely it must be for me to be surrounded by books, reading in between helping readers pick out the perfect novel; absentmindedly petting store cat Sam and sipping herbal tea while ringing … Read more
Signage, the bane of every retail store’s existence. It often seems like customers don’t read signs at all. A good sign can increase business and make your store easier to navigate. A bad one can just be a big waste of money.
Take My Advice-I’m Not Using It! I love bookstores, all bookstores, in-print, out of print, paperback exchanges; whether they are dusty, dark and cluttered, or well lit and meticulously organized, if you take me to a bookstore that has a good selection of books, especially children’s books, be prepared to only see the back of … Read more
Pastafarians take note, finally your own section in a bookstore!
Lots of bookstores have a Christian fiction section. However, in some areas it may be a good idea to have a section devoted to another religion rather than lumping it into the “other” section. Often you’ll see sections devoted to Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, or general “eastern religions”.
****** As a new year begins people often daydream about some of the big moments of the past year; it’s no different in bookselling. For us it’s been a year of slow but steady growth. Our only big change came when we had an opportunity to increase the size of our shop. We’re in a … Read more
Part 2 of our 3 Part series on Inventory Management by Nora of Rainy Day Paperback Exchange. What to do with an under-performing section Just plain moving it or remodeling it didn’t work, so now you need to bite the bullet and get rid of some books. But how do you actually get rid of … Read more
