Just how good was last month's 13th Chicago International Remainder and Overstock Book Exposition (CIROBE)? At the close of the show's first hour (in its customary home, the Chicago Hilton and Towers), Robert Wilkie of the Texas Bookman had written more than 50 orders. "The beginning of this show was as intense as I've ever seen it," he said. "People were being very aggressive in their buying—it's like they were willing the economy to come around. If Christmas is bad, it's not going to be because people don't have the books."
The show's opening found the customary throngs hurtling toward the hot destinations. "It's like the running of the bulls at Pamplona," observed Russell Harvey, remainder buyer for Cody's Books in Berkeley, Calif. "Everybody dashing to the university press tables. CIROBE is the best place, bar none, for university press white sales." According to Doug Wilcoxen at the University of California Press, this year's opening crush was "more intense than recently." He added, in a nice bit of understatement, "It's certainly affirming."
Another traffic barometer was that, unlike in the last couple of years, PW had to "take a number" in order to talk with exhibitors about how things were going. When we approached the Book Sales booth, for example, sales manager Joseph Fortin called out, "Too busy, PW." CIROBE cofounder Marshall Smith, surveying the opening-day activity, exclaimed, "It's smokin' out there, man."
Though the traffic thinned somewhat as Friday afternoon wore on, opening day was a major success by all accounts. Gene Paquette of Powell's Books Wholesale told PW, "I'm toasted. We've sold a lot of books, we've bought a lot of books—everybody on both sides of the aisle is really happy."
Saturday and Sunday certainly held their own, though Friday's traffic was clearly a tough act to follow. Dean Winegardner of American Book Company reported, "We've sold through more titles and have never had so many sellouts." His business, he told PW, "is up 27% year-to-date." Another exhibitor noting a marked increase in volume was Fortin at Book Sales: "Our order production was more than 20% over last year. This is the best show we've seen in five years. Obviously things slowed down after 9/11, but this is re-built and re-energized."
Helping with that energizing was a strong bookseller turnout. According to Bonnie Kaufman of I-Deal Books in Hallandale, Fla., "The independent booksellers are coming out of the woodwork. I can only assume that they're finding out how much the bargain book market keeps things flowing." One independent going with the flow is The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Winnetka, Ill. According to general manager Mary Joyce DiCola, "Every season we've been adding more remainder titles and our customers are becoming increasingly aware of the new sale books we're carrying." And no wonder. As Ed Devereaux, owner of Chicago's Unabridged Books, noted, "Square foot by square foot, bargain books are unquestionably the most profitable part of any bookstore."
American Book Company's Winegardner said, "Retailers' attitudes have changed a lot. 'We don't do remainders' was once a popular comment—I don't hear that anymore." Echoing the sentiments of many CIROBE attendees, he noted that "this is a great business to be in during bad economic times."
Dennis Balog, v-p, customer financial services at Time Warner Book Group, brought up an interesting point when he said, "In terms of what we do here, both in terms of sales volume and relationships, I'm really surprised that more major New York publishers don't attend CIROBE." In the words of CIROBE cofounder Brad Jonas, "Perhaps it's time for publishers to re-examine some of their practices. This show has come to represent a whole new way of doing business."
Going to the Dogs?
Adding to the crowds, two of this year's exhibitors brought canine mascots to the show. Actually, one pooch holds a weightier position (as indicated by his very own CIROBE name badge)—Maximus, a five-year-old pug, has lent his name to the newly formed Maximus Books, based in New York and headed by bargain books veteran Stina Forsell. "Once again," she said, "CIROBE was a working show where buyers placed orders if you had the titles they wanted at the right price. I acquired a sampling of the types of books Maximus Books will focus on, and the reception was supportive and encouraging."
The other CIROBE canine was Cappy, a five-month-old Yorkie whose mom and dad are Mark and Grace Robson of first-time exhibitor Non-Sequitur Inc. The Robsons reported that Cappy was very well behaved and, in Mark's words, "proved himself to be a decent sales agent—few can resist the charm of a puppy!"
Other CIROBE newbies included Mud Puddle Inc., a two-year-old promotional publishing company in New York City. Company president Greg Boehm was understandably excited about his first CIROBE: in the first two hours he sold out his inventory—"a few thousand each of about a dozen titles." An early show "victory" was also scored by another newcomer, Sports Publishing LLC of Champaign, Ill., which by 3 p.m. Friday had written "business that definitely exceeded our goals," said special sales manager Matthew Moyer. "Part of what we wanted to do," Moyer continued, "was just to have people know we're here. But this has far exceeded what I expected in terms of dollars."
Another newcomer was 75-year-old Peter Pauper Press, where national accounts director John Hartley told PW, "Our main objective here is contacts, not necessarily sales dollars. We already have a number of retailers we contact about our overstock, but we all felt this was a great opportunity to branch out." Contacts were the name of the game, too, for Southern Illinois University Press. Said assistant marketing manager Jonathan Haupt, "We may not go home with a fat check in October but we make the equivalent throughout the year because of the contacts in these three days."
All Business, All the Time
As usual, this CIROBE was short on schmooze and long on order writing. "Everyone was very serious about their buying," observed Fortin at Book Sales. "We also noticed a strong air of optimism reflected in what the booksellers had to say and the kind of buying they were doing." "People came really prepared to do business," added Gingko Press's Rick Markell. "In our case, a lot of e-mails and phone calls generated good sales even before the show."
Southern Illinois University Press, too, benefited greatly from advance work, said Haupt. "Our marketing and sales team," he explained, "made numerous pre-show contacts this year, and it truly paid off. The tallies for show orders alone are four times last year's sales. I think it's interesting that a small academic press can still cash in at CIROBE with the right combination of list and labor."
Returning to CIROBE after a few years' hiatus was the University of Nebraska Press, whose marketing manager, Sandra Johnson, told PW she was "very glad" to be back. "We had a fantastic first day; it was well worth my time."
One second-time exhibitor, Taylor Marketing in Houston, benefited significantly from increased space at this year's show: two tables in 2002 jumped to five this year. Company president Virginia Taylor reported that she "billed a little over $200,000 in sales" at the show, adding that the space increase was certainly a factor—"the more tables you take the more seriously people take you." Taylor is focusing, she said, on products geared to the female customer, with titles on cooking, gardening, decorating and parenting. "We're trying to reach the mainstream American mom."
The number of foreign exhibitors was up significantly this year, reported CIROBE exhibits manager Chelsea Nash—30 countries as compared with last year's 20. Several exhibitors attended "who we hadn't seen for a while," she said (Hong Kong, Thailand, Mongolia, Japan), and the show also had "a good showing" from Central and South America. Balog at Time Warner, noting that CIROBE "has gone global in a big way," reported that he met with a customer in Korea earlier this year who told him, "I'll see you at CIROBE." Carol Horne of the Harvard Book Store always appreciates the foreign exhibitors, she said, "for having things that are slightly out of the ordinary."
One of the foreign exhibitors—and a CIROBE first-timer—was London's Caxton Publishing Group. The show, said sales and marketing director Finbarr McCabe, "totally exceeded our expectations. It's refreshed us and given us a new outlook on this market, which, I have to say, is far more discerning over here."
Another CIROBE category that's seen major growth is religion, and this year proved no exception. As John Walker of first-time exhibitor American Bible Society put it, "This show has clearly identified a market that we weren't familiar with and has led to some relationships that will continue down the road." At veteran exhibitor Thomas Nelson, national sales manager for bargain books Wren Wrigley told PW, "We've opened several new accounts and the people who've bought from us before are buying two and three times as much as they used to. They've figured it out."
And what have Jonas and Smith figured out after 13 shows? "CIROBE has definitely come of age," said Smith. "We feel a bit like proud parents—we raised it right, and now the kid behaves." A tribute to this CIROBE in particular, Jonas noted, was that "it was really great, despite the fact that several publishers had not yet awarded all of their remainder lists." He explained that even if major publishers choose not to attend, "they can benefit greatly by understanding the timing of their bid lists."
Finally, on a personal note: CIROBE's Nash, who found out just before the show that she's expecting her first child on June 4 (the first day of next year's BEA), promises "the best new arrival in the bargain book business."
