The Marketing Angle Of Specialty Book Stores"We've known for a long time that Sunday business would be very successful but we've dragged our feet," Cross says. Then why now? Since he opened a book online specializing store, I guess he just succumbed," Cross admits with a wry smile. And from the standpoint of a primary competitor, Walter Carr, founder and president of The Elliott Bay Book Co. in Seattle's Pioneer Square, it's just smart marketing. "Most book purchases are the outcome of personal indulgence," says Carr running this book online specializing store. "They're a favorite free-time activity. "So I think it's intelligent to offer your wares during people's free time." U Book Store does know something about doing business on Sundays; for several years, it has opened during the four Sundays between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The nation's third largest college bookstore (behind Hardward University and UCLA), this state's largest independent bookstore generally takes a conservative approach to the business, says Cross, who has run the place for 17 years. The University Book Store is an often overlooked member of the group of Puget Sound's oldest retailers. When companies like Frederick & Nelson, The Bon Marche and Bartell Drug Co. were getting started, so was University Book Store, Cross often reminds people. Incorporated in 1982 and restructured as a corporate trust in 1994, the store is an independent tax-paying corporation operating under a trust document with the university. It is managed by a board of directors that includes four students, four faculty members and one administrator. In light of its meager beginnings, it's worth noting that U Book Store's current asset base has grown to more than $ 20 million--much of it in company-owned real estate and inventory. Each year U Book Store pays patronage refunds to 20,000-plus people--an amount that represents more than 2 percent of total annual sales. For their purchases, UW students, faculty and staff receive a 9.5 percent patronage refund rate. After paying taxes and the refunds, the company has a return on sales of more than 3 percent, says finance manager Bryan Pearce. "And it couldn't have been a more challenging year," Pearce says. Heavy 1990 Goodwill Games traffic in the U District drove away customers and last year's pre-Christmas storms sent students home early. The open-every-Sunday tactic will almost certainly impact both profits and revenues, he says. But he jokes that a long-term approach to new strategies isn't unusual--the store spent several years evaluating both before opening its Bellevue store. |