Vicki DeArmon of Copperfield’s Books opened this year’s Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) with a chant of “Hut Hut Hut” in celebration of executive director Hut Landon’s last show after 18 years of service, with Calvin Crosby assuming the role.
The show featured an outpouring of love for Landon. Exemplifying the mood was the fact that a large cardboard cutout of him inspired numerous attendees to snap selfies with the 2d version of the departing director.
According to Landon, attendance was "slightly down," with 350 attendees and 50 exhibitors representing more than 300 publishers and imprints. Nonetheless, both the show and Independent Bookstore Day met their respective budgets this year. “Based on numbers I've seen, our region's sales growth is consistent with ABA's national figure, which is an 11% gain thus far over last year,” Landon noted. He added that two stores in the region have closed, one has opened, and there have been no ownership changes.
“This was a unique and logistically challenging show, given the staff transition,” said Landon, adding that incoming executive director Crosby and administrator/trade show manager Ann Seaton handled most of the planning and logistics of the show while training for their new jobs.
The most talked about educational session of the show was called “The Economics of Publishing and How They Impact Booksellers.” The event featured a talk and presentation by Workman sales director Steven Pace, which was moderated by NCIBA treasurer and co-owner of Green Apple Books, Pete Mulvihill. Pace walked booksellers through the profit and loss statements of several titles, familiarizing the audience with the financial realities that publishers face and how those realities trickle down to booksellers.
John Russel, bookseller from Mountain Bookshop, said the presentation was useful in large part because Pace was so "candid" about the realities of the business. “This is one of the best sessions I’ve ever been to at NCIBA," he added. "These are things booksellers don’t often get to hear.”
Other educational sessions touched on the challenges of handselling picture books, using Edelweiss, and how bookstores can engage customers through social media.
At the closing annual meeting, the focus was a "love fest" for Landon. The usual detailed report was replaced with video tributes from ABA members, and toasts. Even the points of business seemed to loop back to Landon. When Christin Evans of Booksmith and Kepler’s, who joined the NCIBA board as technology committee chair, revealed plans for the redesign of the organization's website, she noted the effort was “Hut’s parting wish.” The new site, which will be more user-friendly, was met with applause.
The meeting ended with speeches thanking Landon, and one bookseller referring to him as "the FDR of Northern California booksellers.”
When Landon passed the proverbial torch to Crosby, the incoming director shared a piece of trivia. When NCIBA was hatched, it was in large part because of Landon--he had wanted to add the word "independent" to the existing Northern California Booksellers Association. And, at the time, it was a somewhat radical notion. “None of us thought this was a good idea,” said Amy Thomas, president of the board. “The other regionals didn’t want to do it. Now we take it for granted. And now all the other regionals have added it to their names."
Or, as Crosby summed it up, Landon is "the man who put the 'I' in NCIBA.”
