Bookselling Daybook

Dec 13, 1999

Bookselling
Bookselling Daybook -- 12/13/99 New Softpro in Old Lauriat's Location Softpro, a computer and technical bookseller based in Burlington, Mass., will expand to Marlborough, Mass. The space, in the so-called I-495 tech belt, is located where a Royal Discount Books was situated until parent company Lauriat™s liquidated several months ago. "The second we heard they were closing we got on the phone with the landlord," owner Rick Treitman told PW. Treitman, who started the Burlington store in 1983 (his brother Jim runs a store in Denver and will soon open another branch in Boulder), liked the store™s location. The store will carry 7,000 titles in 3,000 square feet of space. Treitman is looking for managers and sales staff; those interested in working in Marlborough or Boulder should e-mail rick@softpro.com. Zany Brainy Hits 100 Zany Brainy, the children's all-media store, opened its 100th store in Bridgewater, N.J., on September 24. To celebrate the opening, Zany Brainy scheduled 10 days of events in all its stores that included character appearances, giveaways, bubble-blowing contests and raffles for 100-second shopping sprees and for a $10,000 savings bond to be used toward the winner™s college education. The company will soon open another store in Park Meadows, Colo. Since 1997, Zany Brainy has opened more than 50 stores. It plans to open at least 25 more next year. B&N on Staten Island Barnes & Noble plans to open a 28,500-sq.-ft. superstore on Staten Island, N.Y. This is the company™s first superstore on Staten Island. Once criticized for not opening superstores in New York City's outer boroughs, B&N, whose headquarters are in Manhattan, now has stores in Brooklyn and Queens and will soon open one in The Bronx. The S.I. store, which should open a year from now, will be at 2235 Richmond Avenue. New Chapters Houses a Children's Day Care In the latest evolution of the bricks-and-mortar bookstore, Chapters Inc.'s new store in Toronto, its 69th, features a children's art gallery, an ant colony, a 740-gallon aquarium and a day-care center. And in a nod to the more traditional" it also includes a Starbucks and several computer terminals equipped with Internet access. Just a block north of Indigo's original store, Chapters' North Toronto flagship store is located in the trendy Yonge and Eglinton area of Toronto. The 35,000-sq.-ft., two-level store also boasts a Discovery Channel area with video screens for viewing educational videos and a mini shrine to Canadian author Robertson Davies. Davies's chair, typewriter and pen are on permanent display, with a rarely seen photograph of the author.

Bookselling

Bookselling Daybook
-- 12/13/99

New Softpro in Old Lauriat's Location
Softpro, a computer and technical bookseller based in Burlington, Mass., will expand to Marlborough, Mass. The space, in the so-called I-495 tech belt, is located where a Royal Discount Books was situated until parent company Lauriat™s liquidated several months ago.

"The second we heard they were closing we got on the phone with the landlord," owner Rick Treitman told PW. Treitman, who started the Burlington store in 1983 (his brother Jim runs a store in Denver and will soon open another branch in Boulder), liked the store™s location. The store will carry 7,000 titles in 3,000 square feet of space. Treitman is looking for managers and sales staff; those interested in working in Marlborough or Boulder should e-mail rick@softpro.com.

Zany Brainy Hits 100
Zany Brainy, the children's all-media store, opened its 100th store in Bridgewater, N.J., on September 24. To celebrate the opening, Zany Brainy scheduled 10 days of events in all its stores that included character appearances, giveaways, bubble-blowing contests and raffles for 100-second shopping sprees and for a $10,000 savings bond to be used toward the winner™s college education.

The company will soon open another store in Park Meadows, Colo. Since 1997, Zany Brainy has opened more than 50 stores. It plans to open at least 25 more next year.

B&N on Staten Island
Barnes & Noble plans to open a 28,500-sq.-ft. superstore on Staten Island, N.Y. This is the company™s first superstore on Staten Island. Once criticized for not opening superstores in New York City's outer boroughs, B&N, whose headquarters are in Manhattan, now has stores in Brooklyn and Queens and will soon open one in The Bronx. The S.I. store, which should open a year from now, will be at 2235 Richmond Avenue.

New Chapters Houses a Children's Day Care
In the latest evolution of the bricks-and-mortar bookstore, Chapters Inc.'s new store in Toronto, its 69th, features a children's art gallery, an ant colony, a 740-gallon aquarium and a day-care center. And in a nod to the more traditional" it also includes a Starbucks and several computer terminals equipped with Internet access.

Just a block north of Indigo's original store, Chapters' North Toronto flagship store is located in the trendy Yonge and Eglinton area of Toronto. The 35,000-sq.-ft., two-level store also boasts a Discovery Channel area with video screens for viewing educational videos and a mini shrine to Canadian author Robertson Davies. Davies's chair, typewriter and pen are on permanent display, with a rarely seen photograph of the author.

A version of this article appeared in the 12/13/1999 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: