From the blistering heat of Death Valley to the snow on top of Mount Whitney, California has just about every kind of climate. Its book retailing environment is equally diverse.
"We've got everything there is to have," said Hut Landon, executive director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association. From indies to chains to big boxes to online and many nontraditional outlets, California's book buyers have a huge number of options. And they spend enough on books to support some 350 independent bookstore members, as estimated by two regional trade associations, and more than 200 chain stores. The California Board of Equalization lists taxable sales for books and stationery (which it groups together) to be over $4 billion.
The key to succeeding in that market, though, is to see it as many smaller markets. Joe Posney, a regional store director for Borders, called California "a microcosm of the country," where the income, education levels and ethnic mix of customers can fluctuate drastically within just a few miles. "The trick to doing business in this state is to tailor the inventory to the community," said Posney.
The chains and the indies have taken different approaches to this. From 2001 to 2006, Borders and Barnes & Noble opted to close some of their smaller stores while opening superstores in the Golden State. The number of Borders superstores rose to 76, up from 50, while its Walden/Borders express segment shrank from 70 to 51; Barnes & Noble added five superstores, for a total of 85, while its B. Dalton locations shrank to 16 from 48.
During that same time period, said both Landon and Jennifer Bigelow (executive director of the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association), independents with larger stores struggled while those with smaller, neighborhood-based locations thrived. "That's not to say that the destination stores—like Kepler's and Book Passage—cannot thrive," explained Landon. "We're just seeing a trend in smaller neighborhood stores often enjoying the greatest stability and growth."
The story of the reinvention of Books Inc., the indie chain that traces its roots back to San Francisco during the Gold Rush, illustrates why, for some, the smaller store is the best way to go in California.
Ten years ago, bankruptcy forced the owners of Books Inc. to rethink its operation, which at one time encompassed 27 stores in Northern and Southern California. "Books Inc. collapsed in on itself," said co-owner Michael Tucker. Yes, chain store expansion affected sales drastically, but Books Inc. also found itself with several large stores with long leases in locations where real estate values priced the company out of the market. So Books Inc. closed its large stores and concentrated on smaller stores with lower overhead in carefully selected neighborhoods. The indie chain now operates 10 small stores (averaging less than 4,000 sq. ft.) in the Bay Area and one store in Anaheim.
Reinvention, said Tucker, is vital for any bookseller. "Books Inc. is not what it was 10 years ago, and it's not what it was two years ago," he said. "We evaluate monthly; you almost have to, or you get passed on by."
As general manager of Vroman's in Pasadena, Allison Hill said she, too, is constantly evaluating the business. She started her book career in educational publishing at Simon & Schuster before getting a bookselling job at Waterstone's in Boston and eventually moving to California to manage Book Soup in West Hollywood. This March marks her third year with Vroman's, which maintains a 30,000-sq.-ft. flagship and two small branches, one specializing in gifts. Hill said if she were designing the business today, she would not opt for such a big flagship, even if Vroman's has seen good profits in the last two years. Vroman's staff, she noted, has created the right mix for its location.
The demographic shift in Pasadena provided Vroman's with an opportunity. "As Los Angeles real estate prices have increased, the population moved northeast," said Hill. The result: hundreds of new condos were built near Vroman's, bringing in younger, single people with lots of discretionary income—but also the expectation of one-stop shopping. "They want us to be their neighborhood bookstore, the place where they hang out on Friday night, and also where they can pick up Scotch tape," she said.
In Vroman's 113-year history in Pasadena, it has tried several business models—which once included selling used furniture. "This has always been a bookstore that took risks," said Hill. "My biggest mandate is how to honor a 113-year tradition and move it forward when the future is uncertain." She didn't rule out expansion, but said it would be in a small location with an excellent lease.
When it comes to telling the future for at least two prominent California independents, no one could have predicted the recent turns of fortune at Cody's and Kepler's. For more than 50 years, both occupied solid positions in their communities, but found out that neither their stature nor the community's loyalty could be taken for granted.
Last year Cody's closed its 20,000-sq.-ft. flagship store on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, near the university, which wasn't supporting it; eventually owner Andy Ross sold the company to a Japanese wholesaler/bookseller/publisher. Kepler's Books and Magazines, in a 10,000-sq.-ft. location in Menlo Park, near Stanford, reached out to the community to save it in 2005.
"We looked to solve our problems in very different ways," said Ross, who sold Cody's to Tokyo-based Yohan Inc. last fall. "We looked to the world, and [Kepler's] looked to their community." Ross said Cody's is still figuring out its place within Yohan and how it might work more directly with Stone Bridge Press, which Yohan bought in 2005. Ross remains president of Cody's, which has a store on Fourth Street in Berkeley and one near Union Square in San Francisco.
When Kepler's abruptly closed its doors and local investors stepped up to aid the store, owner Clark Kepler welcomed advisers both in and outside of the book community to help it get back on track. It found that, even among customers who were loyal and who valued an independent bookstore in their community, most bought just three out of every 10 books they purchased at Kepler's. The store responded by increasing its marketing and inviting customers to become involved in the store's future through a new membership program.
"We're still working on our stuff," said Kepler, who grew up working in the store that was founded by his father. Of course, Kepler said, he knows that his tech-savvy Silicon Valley customers are still going to get information online, but Kepler's is working to offer the selection and community experience that gives people a reason to come to the store.
It all comes back to giving the community what it wants. In 2003, when the city of Pico Rivera approached Borders about opening a superstore in the predominantly Hispanic area, Borders created a new model for its American superstores, with a prominent section of Spanish-language titles and bilingual staff and signage. "We learned a lot from that," said Borders spokesperson Ann Binkley. "And we're using it for appropriate stores across the country."
Rueben Martinez, the barber-turned-bookseller who won a MacArthur Fellowship for his work promoting literacy in the Latino community through his Librería Martinez Books in Santa Ana, admitted that he wished Borders's Spanish-language selection was deeper. "But," he added, "Pico Rivera now has a bookstore in that city." What's important, he said, is that Borders is not only bringing books into the community but helping to establish the idea that a bookstore can thrive in a Latino community. "We have this love for literature and words and we're spreading it."
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