The big boys are coming, but Brad Jones and Cinda Meister, the married couple who own BookSmart, an independent bookstore in Morgan Hill, Calif., don't seem overly concerned. Barnes & Noble will soon open a store 20 miles from their small town.
Their plan? "We're just going to double our efforts and do what we do even better," Meister told PW.
And why not? Since 1995, the owners of the only bookstore in town have watched their business grow "by leaps and bounds, every year we've been open," according to Jones. Despite the struggling economy in the Silicon Valley, BookSmart's business rose 10% last year.
"It's customer service," Jones told PW. "You've got to provide the kind of service that makes people come back. That means knowing books well enough to give answers, knowing the store well enough to find stuff quickly and being willing to do research and go the extra step to get stuff you might not have. Most big companies say if it's not in their system, they can't get it. We grew up building on what our customers asked for."
Jones and Meister previously owned a restaurant in Morgan Hill, but a third partner cashed out and the couple couldn't afford the place on their own. Around that time, Jones saw the previous owner of the bookstore putting up a "For Sale" sign. Despite the previous owner's difficulties, Jones and Meister wanted to give it a go.
"It didn't faze us," said Meister, "probably because we didn't know any better."
"In any business," added Jones, "You need to do what it takes to stay in business until you gain some attention, and we were determined to do that. We really wanted to do it and the longer we stuck it out, the more we realized it's the kind of a business that gives something back to you on a daily basis. The monetary rewards are slim, but that other rewards are huge."
The couple started with "a wish and a prayer," according to Meister. They borrowed a few thousand dollars from their parents and used credit cards. They found a book wholesaler in San Jose, where they purchased mass market and bestseller titles along with some nonfiction and children's picture books.
Now the store, which has featured sidelines of mostly book-related trinkets and gadgets, is being overrun with books. "Our biggest role is as a bookseller," Jones said, "and that part is slowly taking over all the sidelines area. Eventually, that will be everything because we're having a tough time stopping the book creep."
Not surprisingly, since Jones and Meister are former restaurant owners, the shop also includes a café, which they opened to draw traffic. "If someone comes in every day for a cup of coffee, eventually they're going to say, 'You know, I heard about this book or saw this book on television and was wondering if you have it,' " Jones explained.
Meister and Jones put in long hours but are enjoying the experience, they said. Meister added that she loves doing research for the store. "I read the trades and all the reviews and lots of middle-grade readers because I find that's an area people are reluctant to buy new titles if they haven't been told they're good or don't know what's in them," said Meister. "If I can tell them about it, they're thrilled. I find stuff for the children. I had a bunch of reluctant readers who now come in and say, 'What's next?' "
Jones and Meister are also active members of their community and recently received the Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Showcase Award, given to businesses and individuals for longtime, outstanding community service. BookSmart provides book fairs to local schools, a Summer Book Club for kids ages eight to 14, and created a Halloween costume contest. Although their community participation wasn't primarily motivated to help the business, it has helped BookSmart thrive.
"We think you have to get involved, not just sleep in a town," said Jones. "When we go out into the community, we always find ideas and partnerships that we can bring back and use with our business. People respect when you do things for the community and will support you for it."
Aside from the eminent arrival of the bookselling giant, BookSmart faces significant Internet competition. Jones and Meister dabbled with online sales and even set up a Web site, but ultimately scrapped the plan. "There are two or three companies that do the online sales really well and we can't compete with them," said Jones. "We can't quite reach 25% discounts on everything. So we just concentrate on doing what we do well."
It's paying off. Their customers, most of whom Jones and Meister and their small staff know by name, are showing their appreciation.
"A lot of customers come in with printed pages from the Barnes & Noble Web site and ask if we can get the books for them," said Jones. "They don't care what it costs."
