Small bookshops hold off online giants
Once thought to be dying, small shops hold their own against online giants
The red lanyard around Linda Kass’ neck gets directly to the point. Her name is Linda, a tag on the cord reads, and she recommends the novel “Our Souls at Night” by Kent Haruf.
When the owner of Gramercy Books in Bexley opened her cheerful Main Street shop in December, she determined that personal touches — a display of her favorite books, carpeting in the kids’ section for comfortable lounging, a local-authors section — were imperative to keep the community engaged and returning.
“One can dream to have a bookstore, but then you have to do your research,” she said.
“Are people still buying print books?”
Yes, they are.
For the past five years, book sales at independent bookstores have steadily increased, according to the American Booksellers Association. In 2016, sales rose nearly 5 percent over 2015 numbers.
The tenacity of small brickand-mortar booksellers will be celebrated April 29, the third annual Independent Bookstore Day, with 457 stores nationwide set to host special readings, giveaways and games.
“The popular wisdom about independent bookstores — that they’re an endangered species continuing to be losing the battle to the big guys — simply is not true,” said Oren Teicher, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, which tracks independent booksellers.
Since 2009, according to the association, the number of independent bookstores in the United States has jumped 40 percent, to 2,311 locations — growth that Teicher attributed to the burgeoning localism movement and affordable access to technology (such as inventory-tracking systems) once available only to big-box stores.
Gramercy is the first independent bookstore to enter the Columbus market since Liberty Books & News opened 12 years ago in Upper Arlington. (Liberty closed in 2007.)
Most other such shops in the area — no more than a dozen — are specialty stores such as Cover to Cover, for children’s books; Karen Wickliff, for used books; and Phoenix, for spiritual and self-help titles.
Although mega-retailer Amazon remains a towering presence — controlling up to 65 percent of the e-book market — the company on April 1 began collecting sales tax in 45 states, a development that should help level the playing field, Teicher said. (Amazon has collected sales tax in Ohio since June 2015.)
And even Amazon has dipped a toe in the physicalbookstore world: It opened its first technology-centric outlet in Seattle in 2015 and has been working since to open more. The company is also opening a storefront at Ohio State University where students can order and pick up textbooks.
Still, Amazon’s dominance and discounted offerings can’t help taking a toll on local independent stores.
Despite its status as a favorite among residents and tourists alike, he 32-room Book Loft in German Village has long wrestled with tight finances.
At the time of co-owner Roger Tompkins’ death in 2012, in fact, the store was struggling to turn a profit because of competition from the online market.
“I didn’t think we were going to make it,” said Carl Jacobsma, Tompkins’ business partner.
In 1977, when the two opened the store — then a modest five-room business — they barely made enough to feed themselves, Jacobsma said.
Now, as the Book Loft celebrates its 40th anniversary, the quirky store at 631 S. 3rd St. — which slowly expanded to 32 rooms as other shops left the shared building — is viewed by many people as a Columbus icon.
Improved sales in recent years have allowed Jacobsma to replace carpeting and the computer system for the first time.
The Book Loft got a boost when Borders, a massive chain, closed in 2011. Sales of electronic readers peaked that year (and have since flatlined).
“I see a lot of fads that are coming and going,” Jacobsma said. “Like the e-reader, it was a fad to start with. It was a useful tool but not a satisfying tool.”
Although he and Tompkins, along with third owner Russell Iler, tried “every conceivable advertisement” through the years, Jacobsma said, word of mouth — including mentions in some “hidden gem” articles about Columbus — has proved to be the store’s most effective publicity.
The Book Loft also hosts a steady flow of in-store events — as does Gramercy — to attract new customers.
Every Sunday, the Book Loft hosts a local author. Gramercy started a monthly book club, which features expert speakers on a book’s subject.
In Grandview Heights, George Cowmeadow Bauman, co-owner of the Acorn Bookshop, relies on his outsize personality and 53 years in the business to know what his customers want.
The used-book store sells everything from cheap paperbacks to costly antiquarian finds. Bauman, with a cowboy hat always atop his head, presides over the hospitality part of the operation.
“We consider ourselves something like bartenders,” he said. “People like to come in and drink in the literature, but they also want to tell us their stories.”
Acorn will turn 25 this year, thanks in part to its decision to sell books online in 2005. Internet purchases now make up 60 percent of sales, Bauman said, but he still prefers the customer interaction the storefront offers.
“People don’t have to come to a bookstore,” he said. “They come because they want to come to a bookstore. Their attitude is so positive, we can’t do anything but be positive right back at them.”