Centenarian Booksellers
John High -- 8/7/00
Where's Willard Scott? Fourteen U.S. bookstores are more than
100 years old and still going strong.
The American Booksellers Association, celebrating its own centennial this year, tracked down 14 bookstores that had also reached the century mark. Ranging in age from 100 to 255 years, these bookstores have not only survived, they are staying vital.
According to the owners and managers of those stores who spoke to PW, they thrive because of their innovation, savvy, ability to change and out-and-out gumption.
N.A. Horton, for instance, launched his store, Horton's, in Georgia in 1892 by advertising himself as "Undertaker and dealer in furniture, matting, rugs, coffins, caskets...." And books, of course. (Horton's no longer carries caskets.)
When Otto's opened in 1877 in Pennsylvania, it was known for its window shades and wallpaper more than the titles it carried. Today it is one of the most respected bookstores in its region.
Each of the stores is a historical landmark in its region. Who runs the bookstores today and what's their secret to continuing success? This week, we meet seven bookstores:
ANDOVER BOOKSTORE, 1810 Andover, Mass., (800) 491-0143
 | Booksellers (l. to r.) Sue Wahr
and Susan Len at Andover |
The Andover Bookstore, which recently celebrated its 190th anniversary, is a 5,000-sq.-ft. store in a restored barn near the center of the city on Main Street. It traces its beginnings to a wooden building on the campus of Andover Theological Seminary. Until 1960 it operated both the historic Andover Press and the bookstore itself.
Though now a general bookstore with an emphasis on quality literature, it still supplies Phillips Academy with textbooks and logo items year-round. With three floors and a children's room, part of the store's success today can be attributed to its clothing and gifts departments as well as its special orders and text trade.
The store is known in the community for its active events schedule, and according to Julie Carlson, assistant manager and events coordinator, the working fireplace on the main floor provides a cozy setting and hangout for its children's authors--as well as for noted p ts like Robert Pinsky, Donald Hall and Maxine Kumin. "In 1996 we even had one of our biggest book signings ever for local son Jay Leno, and 1,500 people came," said Carlson.
The present owner is Bob Hugo, who bought the store in 1992. Manager Mark Clark told PW the store carries roughly 40,000 titles and has eight employees.
"Our store is a community meeting place as well as a landmark in the Merrimack Valley," said Carlson.
OTTO'S: "A BOOKLOVER'S PARADISE," 1877Williamsport, Pa., (888) 762-4526
 | | An antique photo of Otto's circa 1877 |
"What's in a name?" owner Betsy Rider asked about Otto's, where she is as much a local celebrity as the historic store itself. Otto's was founded in 1877 when John Dean added books, window shades and wallpaper to his insurance agency.
Though Rider has been part of the store all of her life--her father once owned it--it wasn't until she took the helm 16 years ago that she adopted the town's nickname for the store and made it a part of the store's name.
Otto's is the little store that could. During its 123 years, Otto's (which is slightly larger than 2,000 square feet) has survived three floods, one fire and a computer crash in its long history. It has also made several moves--all without losing a day of business.
"Selection and service, that's what has made us--and for the rest, just plain doggedness," Rider told PW. "Our selection has always been a mirror of the community's taste."
Perhaps a little savvy hasn't hurt. In the '60s, Rider started a live telephone/ radio review of books once a week. The original station has since closed down, but she still records a new spot every week that now runs on eight local stations. She's also an active community speaker throughout the region. Very large school and prison orders have helped the store fight the online competition.
Rider d sn't play down the competition, though, particularly from Amazon.com. She regularly calls on the town to patronize the store and to "help save a piece of our past." Special orders are speedily processed. Free deliveries--made by bike from the 1930s through the 1950s--are now made by car.
The store carries approximately 45,000 titles and has nine employees--six of whom are Rider's offspring.
KENYON COLLEGE BOOKSTORE, 1829Gambier, Ohio, (740) 427-5633 topaz.kenyon.edu/bookstor
 | Kenyon College Book Store:
open 365 days a year |
The Kenyon archives hold a letter to a Mr. Putnam, a former store manager, admiring the store for selling a remarkable variety of merchandise from "squirrel traps to gingham dresses" in the 1860s. Gingham dresses?
The store was actually established in 1829 by Philander Chase, first president of Kenyon and first Episcopal bishop of Ohio. It was originally housed in a log cabin and has moved, like all its 100-year-old compatriots, several times. Kenyon settled into its present location in 1968.
Today, it is open 365 days a year and stocks more than 75,000 new and used titles. Still, "It's a bit of a country store, plus books," said manager John H. Finefrock. "Along with books, we carry lightbulbs and other merchandise."
Owned by the university, the store covers 9,600 square feet and has 33 employees.
Finefrock is convinced that the future of the campus bookstore is in supplying the "grubby daily needs" of students while creating an academic ambience in the store for contemplation.
"The Internet has created as many sales as the store has lost to Amazon and other online sellers," he said. It has especially helped sales of used books. The store currently has 15,000 used titles listed online.
UNIVERSITY BOOK STORE INC., 1900Seattle, (800) 335-READ
www.ubookstore.com
 | Seattle's University Book Store's
new staircase was completed in 1999. |
There are 13 Barnes & Nobles in the Seattle area, and of course, it's Amazon.com's home town. In fact, Barnes & Noble has a large, 45,000-sq.-ft. store right across from the University of Seattle's campus. But with textbook prices among the lowest in the country--and a 10% cash rebate on all sales--the University Book Store is doing fine, according to general manager Bob Cross.
The store celebrated its 100th anniversary this past January. Cross has been at the helm since 1974.
UBS was founded by students and was operated under the ownership of the student association for its first 32 years. In 1932, the store was reorganized as an independent, for-profit corporation.
The management is overseen by a board of nine directors, four of whom are UW students. It operates from a 100,000-sq.-ft. main building with eight branch locations having a combined floor area of an additional 55,000 sq. ft.
In the past 12 months alone, the store has hosted more than 250 author appearances at its locations.
Cross told PW, "Perhaps the biggest uncertainty in our business today is the extent to which the Internet and the e-book will displace our textbook and reference book sales." So far, so good.
DARTMOUTH BOOKSTORE, 1872Hanover, N.H., (800) 624-8800
www.dartbook.com
 | | Dartmouth Bookstore's Harry Potter launch |
The Dartmouth Bookstore is the oldest bookstore in the United States to be continuously owned and operated by the same family. Edward Payson Storrs put the Storrs family into the book business by purchasing the Dartmouth Bookstore (started in 1872 by Dartmouth students) in 1883. Since that time, the Dartmouth Bookstore has been a permanent fixture on the west side of Main Street and is currently owned by Edward's granddaughter, Ph be Storrs Stebbins.
The full-time store manager since 1974 is David Cioffi, who is Ph be's son-in-law, married to her daughter, Ann, who works behind the scenes at the store. At the age of 81, Ph be "still comes in and works in the children's department," Ann told PW. "She's not every day, but more often than not. She used to run children's department, but now she helps out when we get busy."
The bookstore has an unusual layout: three levels in four interconnected buildings, which take up 27,000 square feet of space. There is very little turnover in staff, and most employees have been there for years.
"We're not the college's bookstore--we're a block away from the main campus, and we coordinate with the college, but we're not their official textbook dealer," said Ann, who noted that the majority of books sold were trade, not text.
"We have such customer loyalty," David Cioffi told PW. The store rewards that loyalty with a family membership plan; for a yearly $12 fee, customers get discounts on bestsellers and other books and products. The store now has more than 6,000 family memberships. "We also have a loyal staff," Cioffi added. "Our key managers have been with us 10 to 15 years. One woman, Claire, has been with us for 40 years. She worked for Ann's grandfather."
THE BOOKSHOP, 1864Boise, Idaho, (800) 824-7320
 | Two generations of Wilsons
have owned The Bookshop |
The Bookshop opened in downtown Boise in 1864--before Idaho was a state. Dan and Merritt Wilson bought the store in 1994 from Jean Wilson, Dan's mother, who still works in the bookstore.
"The store's gone through so many changes," Merritt told PW. "There's an old photograph showing the outside of the store with a sign that advertises 'Books, Stationery, Guns & Ammunition.'" The Bookshop's inventory reached its peak in the '80s with 80,000 titles. "We only carry about 35,000 now," said Merritt. "But with our three other employees, we have a combined 70 years' experience at the Bookshop. We know our books--and we know the territory."
With 3,000 square feet, the store features a large travel section and specialty books on Idaho as well as an extensive children's section.
HORTON'S BOOKS & GIFTS, 1892Carrollton, Ga., (770) 832-8021
Bibles still make up a good part of sales throughout the year, and owner Dorothy Pittman still rings up sales on the same National cash resister original owner N.A. Horton used a century ago. Located in downtown Carrollton, Horton's is Georgia's oldest bookstore.
Along with books, Horton's sells neckties, clergy shirts, oil paintings, stationery and other gifts. The store has continually adapted to the times and, according to Pittman, that's what has kept it going.
"In addition, we send books and Bibles to be rebound, baby sh s to be bronzed and silver to be replated," said Pittman. "We also order robes for choirs, ministers and judges."
Dorothy Pittman told PW that the store currently stocks about 10,500 titles in its 2,300-sq.-ft. space. Books account for more than half of the store's sales.
As with many smalltown bookstores, much of the future depends on Carrollton's efforts to revitalize its downtown. Pittman, who bought the store three years ago, continues the work that previous owner Larry Johnson did by becoming very active in the Carrollton Main Street program and working to keep both the downtown and the store "vital and growing."
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