PW: Mystery Lovers Bookshop Seeking New Owner

Richard Goldman and Mary Alice Gorman, longtime husband and wife owners of the Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, Pa., have announced they are looking for a new owner for their bookstore, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Halloween 2000.

"Business has remained steady for the last few years," Goldman told PW. "In fact, last year was the first time we were closed on Sundays, but [we] still managed to end the year with virtually the same sales. We reached this decision in January. A cardiac event with Mary Alice created the opportunity for one of those reappraisals of priorities. Mary Alice has also suffered with arthritis for years, which is tough to deal with in the retail business when you're on your feet all day. We decided that 10 years is a long time, and we felt very happy about what we'd accomplished in the store."

The couple is working with a real estate broker who specializes in selling small businesses. "We've already heard from a few people," said Goldman. "We're pretty confident that there is someone out there who'd like to take this place over. The store has so much visibility, we feel someone will see the value of this established customer base and our terrific customer records." And what customer records. Goldman, who came from a 25-year background in computer software development, created his own inventory system through which the store can track the titles sold to specific customers in order to do targeted mailings and more precise ordering. Although most bookstores now possess the technology to keep tabs on their customers, there was nothing available at the time, so Goldman developed his own.

"When we opened, it was fairly easy to attract customers," Goldman recalled. "With superstores, we've had to become more creative." That creativity spawned nine book clubs; a 20-page newsletter mailed to 6,000 customers; a savvy Web site (mysterylovers.com); and a weekly e-mail missive to customers, called Mysteries by Modem, which announces special discounts and is received by more than 1,000 online purchasers. Then there's the bookshop's Masters of Mystery incentive program, in which 10% of each customer's purchase is credited toward future purchases.

Competition is stiff (there are nine superstores in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, making it one of the 20 largest book markets in the U.S.), but Goldman maintains, "We're holding our own against the competition," The quarterly newsletter is an ever-growing source of business. Last year, Mystery Lovers began offering free shipping on orders of $25 or more, which increased the shop's mail-order business by 50%; mail-order sales now represent a little more than 20% of total sales.

Although Goldman and Gorman made the "for sale" announcement on the eve of a two-week trip to Paris and Florence, the two are comfortable waiting for the right buyer. Once they're back, they have their fifth annual Festival of Mystery on May 8th to fine-tune. Author participation has grown 33% this year over last. This will be the second year that the all-day signing event will take place off-site. "Last year we sold 1,100 books in three hours to about 400 people in attendance," said Goldman. "It was a huge success. We have customers who are volunteers for our events who come and work for us during events because they find it exciting. I think that's one of the sadder aspects of selling the business, is leaving wonderful group of customers who have become friends of ours."