The Books & Books indie chain is working its way north from South Florida with the July 1 opening of Books & Books Westhampton Beach. The new store will operate much like the Books & Books affiliate in the Cayman Islands. Mitchell Kaplan and the staff of the stores in Coral Gables, Miami Beach, and Bal Harbour will consult on the running of the store and will assist with booking author events and provide staff for July and August. However, the Hamptons location will be wholly owned and managed by book industry consultant Jack McKeown, former cofounder and CEO of the Perseus Books Group, and Denise Berthiaume, president of Verso Advertising.
McKeown said that he and Berthiaume will be “putting our money where our mouth is” by opening the 2,000 sq. ft. Books & Books. Their research for the 2009 Survey of Book-Buying Behavior from Verso Advertising indicates that there will be a market for physical books, albeit a hybrid one shared with e-books, for many decades to come. “Older Americans, especially the retiring Baby Boomers, are disproportionately avid book buyers. This represents a growth opportunity for bricks-and-mortar stores,” said McKeown, adding that over 27% of avid book buyers prefer to shop in local independents.
In addition, McKeown, who will handle the store’s buying, will have a chance to sit on the opposite side of the table. During his years in publishing, he frequently went on sales calls and now he looks forward to reversing roles and putting his resources as a store owner behind handsells like Matterhorn and The Passage.
For him, making the store a Books & Books affiliate was a particularly good option. “With franchise comes the idea of conformity,” said McKeown. “But we’re putting our unique stamp on the store. Thirty percent of the inventory will be different from Books & Books.” As an affiliate, he’ll be able to link to the Books & Books Web site (booksandbooks.com) and view the stores’ buying history. Plus the name is one that resonates with area homeowners, many of whom spend part of the year in South Florida. The stores will work closely on author appearances and e-mail newsletters, and McKeown and Berthiaume will share the resources of the Verso Digital online network to reach consumers directly. Mitchell said he is not actively searching out affiliate relationships, but he is willing to consider them. For him, the key is local ownership. "I think we need to think about new models," he said.
McKeown described the Westhampton store on Main Street as “very sleek” with an inventory of 10,000 new titles. It borrows the “store-within-a-store” experience of the Lincoln Road Books & Books, which devotes separate rooms to adult fiction, general nonfiction, reference, children’s, and art and lifestyle books. There will also be an Assouline corner for that publisher's books. The store will have rolling gondolas to accommodate 40 to 50 people for in-store events. The one piece missing is a Books & Books café. Although there’s not enough space in the store’s current configuration, McKeown is already scouting potential locations. The store will be opened year-round, but will likely have shorter hours in February.
