Fingers Crossed: Early Merry Christmas So Far

By John Mutter, Edward Nawotka, and Kevin Howell, PW Daily for Booksellers -- Publishers Weekly, 11/26/2001

The official beginning of a holiday season marked by more uncertainty and anxiety than in many years was cheery for several booksellers contacted by PW Daily today.

At both Paperbacks Plus, Bronx, N.Y., and Lowry's Books, Three Rivers, Mich., sales on "Black Friday" and Saturday, the days after Thanksgiving, were above the same days a year ago. At The Book Rack & Children's Pages, Essex, Vt., sales were up 10% in October, which owner Michael Desanto said is partly attributable to the store's new location in an outlet mall near a movie theater, wine and cheese store and a toy store.

Tom Lowry, owner of Lowry's Books, described "an air of caution" among customers. "They're very friendly, but I'm picking up on a sense ofhesitation. There's still some uncertainty about spending."

Noting that she also had a sales gain of 16% in October, Fern Jaffe,owner of Paperbacks Plus, attributed part of the sales increase to "people sticking around and staying close to home. We benefit from that."

At Paperbacks Plus, books and sidelines are selling well. The store has a standing Book Sense display and uses the independents' bestseller list instead of the New York Times' list, so that "a lot is under the radar of the 'big books,'" as Jaffe put it. The store has sold many copies of The Corrections, The Noonday Demon, Peace Like a River, The Complete Works of Isaac Babel and Portraits in Sepia by Isabel Allende. Staff selections and current events titles are doing well. "I'm impressed with the number of copies of the Koran we've sold," Jaffe added.

One of her bestselling sidelines is the New York Chess Set, which has yellow taxi pawns and the Statue of Liberty as the queen. "God bless sidelines," she said.

At Lowry's, The Desecration, Harry Potter titles and Jan Karon's Mitford Snowman are doing well. "Perennial" regional bestsellers include Sleeping Bear Press's Legend of Mackinac Island and Legend of Sleeping Bear as well as the photobook Stranger in the Woods.

Likewise, some of the bestsellers at The Book Rack & Children's Pages are regional titles, including Senator Jim Jeffords' My Declaration of Independence. The book sold 30 copies in five days. Desanto predicted he'll sell several hundred in December.

Other hot titles at the store: all Harry Potter and Tolkien titles, even Christopher Tolkien books, as well as Diane Gabaldon's The Fiery Cross, children's books by Jan Brett, and Olivia by Ian Falconer.

In part, this may account for Desanto's optimism about Christmas. "If it's true that the big chain stores are discounting their big ticket items, people will have more money in their pockets and buy smaller stuff from me," he said. "Bookstores are well placed. People will buy a $30 or $40 book. It's not like buying a $400 piece of jewelry."

And once again, he said, the busiest part of the season will be in the last few days before Christmas when, as "an emergency stop, as a last resort, you can find something at a bookstore." [More sales information from other stores tomorrow]