The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., is a sprawling 4.2 million—square-foot shopping and entertainment complex that houses more than 520 retail businesses, 50 restaurants, 14 movie theaters, seven nightclubs and an amusement park, complete with roller coaster.
Books, it's probably safe to say, are not the main draw. There is only one general bookstore, a Barnes & Noble, and one remainders bookstore, Atlantic Book Warehouse. But look closely, and you can see books almost everywhere—on display next to the pasta makers, tossed in among the throw pillows and posed before the low-rider jeans. With special sales becoming increasingly important for publishers trying to reach the millions of consumers who don't visit bookstores, I decided to explore America's biggest shopping center to see how retailers who aren't booksellers handle the selling of books.
First stop, Love from Minnesota, a gift shop with three affiliated stores inside the megamall: another Love from Minnesota store, Minnesotahhh, and Minnesota and More. The stores stock specialty foods, clothing, knick-knacks and souvenirs pertaining to the North Star State. There are also several displays of books, mostly nonfiction, with titles such as Walking Briskly Towards the Sunset and Minnesota Eats Out: An Illustrated History.
"We carry only Minnesota books," Mary Hinds, the stores' district manager says. "They're either about Minnesota, by Minnesota publishers or written by a Minnesotan. If the book is not specifically about Minnesota, it's about something related to the state—like Norwegians or camping." The manager explains that the stores order directly from publishers, many of them regional presses. "We get a lot of locals in here, people who are going on trips and might buy books for friends or family," she adds.
Given the store's name, the Minnesota focus is no surprise. What is surprising—considering the mall is a tourist attraction bringing in 40 million visitors each year from all over the world—is how many of the stores here emphasize books of local interest. Even the 20,000-square-foot Barnes & Noble considers local subject matter in the placement of its 200,000-title inventory. A "local favorites" table is set up in front of the cash registers inside the store, the cookbook endcap display emphasizes regional cuisine, and a large wall next to the store's plate glass window entrance holds a face-out display of "Minnesota" and "Great Lakes" titles.
Nearby, the All Seasons Wild Bird store displays books on birds and field guides against one wall, near bird feeders, bird houses, nest boxes and garden gifts.
"During the summer, most people who buy books in here are tourists. They buy books on birding in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. During the winter and fall, most people who come in are locals," says Maggie Russek, the store's manager. She adds that she orders titles from two wholesalers: Common Ground Book Distributors in North Carolina and Adventure Publications, a Minnesota-based wholesaler and publisher of regional titles, including Birds of Minnesota and Birds of Wisconsin.
A few stores down, another local business, Al's Farm Toys, stocks a diverse selection of books for both adults and children on one aisle of its cluttered space, most of them educational titles published by Usborne and EDC. Titles include the Antique Tractor Bible, the American Family Farm, Raising Beef Cattle and Lift-the-Flap Animal Homes.
"Books sell well, especially the farm books and the kids books. A lot of farmers come here. [They] want their kids to get into farming, so they buy books about animals and farms, to get them going," explains store clerk Carmen Morales.
Where All the Books Are Local
On the other side of the mall, the Lake Wobegon Store, owned by Minnesota Public Radio, stocks books, music, calendars, games, clothing and vintage items that evoke the ambiance of an old-fashioned general store. The 400 books and audiobooks in stock include titles by Garrison Keillor, Terry Gross and other NPR personalities—even Will Shortz's sudoku books.
"We sell primarily Prairie Home Companion items and books by NPR and MPR personalities," David Eden, the store manager, says. "But we sell the Lutheran and Catholic books because Garrison Keillor talks about Lutherans and Catholics on his show. Plus, it's a way to differentiate ourselves from the other Minnesota stores in the mall."
Eden orders books directly from publishers. "It's a lot more work, but you get a better deal," he explains. "I also go to the Minneapolis Gift Market and order from reps as well, because a lot of publishers think it's not worth dealing with a small store."
Like the other vendors I spoke with, Eden wouldn't divulge sales figures, but he says book sales are up 20% this year. In fact, books and audiobooks are the top-selling items in his store, with Keillor's Pretty Good Joke Book, at $10.95, consistently outselling other titles.
"It's been a very good year. The Prairie Homemovie gave us lots of free publicity; there's a heightened familiarity with who we are. People who come in here are Prairie Home fans or are looking for Minnesota items," Eden says.
Nearby, another niche store, Irish Indeed, caters to the market for all things Irish—including books, music, genealogy charts, jewelry, clothing and food. Owner Scott Wilhelmy selects titles based on two factors: content and cost. "Different publishers have better deals. Publishers' discounts are a factor," he says, explaining that he orders books from a wholesaler, Irish Books & Media in Minneapolis, as well as from a handful of publishers: Ave Maria, Random House and Pelican Publishers.
"Sometimes, I'll even buy a book directly from an author," he says, adding that he wants books that are gift books and/or provide information "lightly" about Irish subjects. His two biggest sellers are both holiday books: Irish Night Before Christmas and Irish Blessings.
The selection is more eclectic at another local retailer, The Afternoon, which has two locations in Minneapolis, one in Chicago and a flagship store in Omaha. It carries the largest and most diverse inventory of books at the mall, aside from Barnes & Noble. Gift and coffee-table books are displayed throughout the store, alongside trendy knick-knacks, pillows, lamps, photo frames, glassware and other artsy items. Books are arranged by theme with related items. Soul of the Samurai, Art of War and Buddhain the Waiting Room were displayed alongside Asian dishes, artwork, tiles and teapots.
Tracy Aube, the buyer for all four stores, is reluctant to provide much information, telling me, "the only thing we've got that the big boys haven't got is our strategy." She will say that she orders many books directly from publishers, as well as from other sources, such as vendors at the annual New York International Gift Fair trade show.
"There's one wholesaler there we spend a lot of time with. They're very knowledgeable about the industry," she says, declining to name the vendor.
Aube says she looks for interesting, quirky books with attractive covers and provocative titles. "There's a component of wit and humor underlying what we do," she says. She adds, "Books are always among our top three categories. Books are an important piece of our puzzle."
Food, Sex, Work, Legos
At the national chain stores, the employees have less to say about the books, which generally are ordered by a corporate buyer with little input from the store level. And at most of the chain stores I visit, the book displays seem to be somewhat of an afterthought, placed in corners of their stores or even at knee-level, as at the craft store Bead It!
There are exceptions, though. Williams-Sonoma and Le Gourmet Chef show books throughout the store, as an integral part of their gourmet cookware and food product displays. The intention is to provide the customer with the books as an instructional incentive, enticing them to purchase the cookware and/ or food product on display. One Williams-Sonoma display features a pasta machine, huge cooking pots, a tomato press, gourmet pasta sauces, a glass cookbook holder and three cookbooks: Williams-SonomaPasta, Molto Italiano and the Williams-Sonoma Collection, Italian.
Le Gourmet Chef displays less upscale cookbooks, such as Rachael Ray's titles and the Gooseberry Patch books, interspersed among the cookware and food products geared toward a more casual, younger consumer than Williams-Sonoma's.
At another national chain store, Urban Outfitters, the book display is at the store entrance. Along with the music pulsating through stereo speakers, the books help set a hip, energetic tone as the shopper enters. Urban Outfitters sells clothing, accessories, housewares and furniture for college students and young professionals. The books on display have provocative titles such as Sex Advice, The Daily Cocktail: 365 Intoxicating Drinks, Guide to Getting it On and Why Do Men Have Nipples?
At Hot Topic, a national chain selling music-related apparel and accessories, a small selection of books complements the pop-culture related products aimed at college-age customers. "We're all about the music," Amber Moffit, the store manager tells us. "Everything we carry is influenced by music, popular culture or fairies. We don't carry a ton of books." Titles in a few endcap displays scattered around the store include The Oral History of a Band Called the Pixies, The Autobiography of Johnny Cash, Insane Clown Posse and Revolution on Canvas: Poetry from the Indie Music Scene.
The Apple store offers a selection of instructional books on computers and computer software on one aisle in one corner of the store. The books are meant to help computer users, from amateur to pro, better use their Macs. Titles include everything from Macintosh for Dummies to Apple Pro Training series titles for professional graphic designers and other visual effects artists. On the day I visit, the books are ignored by the crowds mobbing the store, who are more interested in checking out the latest iPods and laptops.
While I expect to also find instructional books at the Legos store, instead I see science fiction titles featuring the Bionicle line of Legos products in the story lines. The series was developed under a licensing agreement with Scholastic. The mass-market paperbacks are geared toward 9-12-year-old boys, the primary consumers of Legos products.
At my final stop, Franklin Covey, I find such business staples as Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, How to Retire Early and LiveWell and Discover Your Strengths, along with the daily planners, appointment books and other office accessories. "Because a lot of our customers are business people, we carry a lot of business books," explains Shane Baker, Franklin Covey's assistant manager, adding that corporate buyers order books from Bennett & Curran, a publisher and wholesaler of career management titles in Colorado. He adds that sales are sporadic. Some weeks, they might sell 20 books, some weeks none. But that's okay. After all, Baker points out, "most people who come through here are not coming here to buy books."
