Valley Bookseller Becomes Party Central
This story originally appeared in Children's Bookshelf on September 14, 2006 Sign up now!
by Claire Kirch, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 9/14/2006
If something's not working, the folks at Valley Bookseller in Stillwater, Minn., fix it. For instance, a few years ago, the staff rearranged everything in the store, using feng shui concepts. This caused sales to jump 9%, while expenses dropped 16%. Now they've beefed up their children's programs—by making them bigger, splashier events that require a lot more effort to organize, but also requires some effort on the part of store patrons in order to participate. And it's working well.
Because attendance at its weekly pajama story time had become spotty, the store canceled it. Valley Bookseller now organizes a gala story time event every two-to-three months, complete with costumed characters, such as Curious George and Fancy Nancy. But, instead of just popping in at a moment's notice, children now must pre-register to participate in the story times (although attendance is free).
Store staff also have begun throwing two American Girl parties the first Saturday afternoon of each month, at which a maximum of 15 attendees at each party make crafts, eat snacks and listen to stories from the American Girl Collection. Children must pre-register for these parties as well—which includes a $2 registration fee. Each child attending the event receives a wooden nickel worth a $2 discount on any purchase of $10 or more.
"We can plan more effectively, now that we know how many people are going to come," says Natasha Fleischman, Valley Bookseller's education specialist. "Once you create demand, it's easy to keep it. It creates greater demand. Every month, everyone immediately signs up for the following month."
Joci Tilsen, Valley Bookseller's owner, reports a dramatic increase in sales when the store hosts one of its Saturday theme parties. In fact, she says, while sales on everything in the store jump on those days, American Girl merchandise sales increase 25% and sales for children's activity books increase 20%.
And, if a child would like to have tea with other American Girl fans while listening to American Girl stories before the store's party begins, a neighboring tea room, Aprille's Showers, hosts a three-course high tea theme luncheon earlier in the day, for $16.
"Parents plan American Girl birthday parties around these," Fleischman says. "They take the girls out to tea, then come into our store for our event. This partnership is good all the way around."
