Treeline Branching into the Chains

By Judith Rosen -- Publishers Weekly, 5/4/2007 7:41:00 AM

Above the Treeline, the five-year-old inventory control system built on serving indie booksellers, is branching out into the chains and is believed to be testing its system with Borders.
 
In a letter that went out to ABA Treeline users earlier this week, founder John Rubin notified booksellers that "we have begun working in various capacities with some of the large, national bookstore chains and, in one case, are about to expand on a small test that was begun a few months ago." Given Treeline’s Michigan headquarters and the letter’s reference to a "category manager," the chain that is rolling out Treeline in more of its stores is likely Borders. Borders spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.

Treeline formed a strategic partnership with the ABA a year and a half ago. About 350 independent booksellers now use the Treeline inventory system, which enables booksellers to compare how they are doing on individual titles and sections with other retailers. Booksellers can view detailed bibliographic information on titles and real-time sales and on-hand information from other retailers, wholesalers and publishers.

Rubin noted that Treeline’s data for the independent channel will be kept separate from the chains, just as it is from that of the CBA, which was an early Treeline adopter. In today’s competitive market, Rubin said, "We risk being marginalized in the industry if we don’t work with other channels." He also indicated that a stronger Treeline will be able to continue to support programs such as Treeline University, which was introduced in February to help walk users through the various aspects of the system, and the Treeline Center at BEA.