Three Answers: Ed Devereux, Owner of Unabridged Books

by Dick Donahue, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 11/21/2005

This week's three answers are with Ed Devereux, owner of Unabridged Books, a Chicago independent store that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.

PW: Given how much the competition for independent bookstores has increased since you opened your store, would you do you do it all again today, knowing what you know now?

E.D.: It's not even a question of would I; I don't even think I could. First of all, when I started the store I did it on almost no money, and of course the competition you mentioned didn't exist. And the little chain stores, B. Dalton and Walden, which at the time seemed like two monoliths, now almost seem quaint. Also, I think a big part of our success is due to a mission we had back then that turned out to be a good one—probably just through luck—which was to have a general bookstore with a specific area of expertise. That in fact was a very novel idea at the time. These days I think the specialty stores are really hurting—a mystery-only store or a gay and lesbian store is hard pressed to survive, especially in the face of online bookselling.

PW: In the midst of all this competition, how have you managed to prosper?

E.D.: One of the reasons is because of our mission—we've always wanted to sell just books, in a bricks-and-mortar store, in a neighborhood. At the beginning Walden and Dalton had a certain mix; in fact the percentage of sales from non-book items at several Walden stores was larger than from books. We don't even want to have an online presence; we want to hand-sell the books to customers in the store. Also, all along I decided that I wanted to have only full-time help, no part-timers. That way you get people who have a better knowledge of books and a better knowledge of the store. And by paying them more than most bookstores and providing them with full benefits, people here stay a long time. So you have very little turnover, and everyone gets to know your customers thoroughly, by name, by face.

PW: You've always had an extensive gay/lesbian section. How do you decide whether a book belongs there or shelved with general-interest titles?

E.D.: There are a few authors—Michael Cunningham, for example—whose books are in both places, because he's extremely popular with gay and straight readers. It's really whether the content of the book is mostly gay, or perhaps whether the author is gay. The question is tricky because these days gay literature isn't easily definable: one of the trends now is that traditional gay authors tend to be writing books that don't have any gay characters or gay content at all—Christopher Bram, or David Leavitt—but we'll still put that book in the gay section, because all their other books are there.

This article originally appeared in the November 21, 2005 issue of PW Daily. For more information about PW Daily, including a sample and subscription information, click here »

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