UnBound: The 'Show Within a Show'

Another major new event at BookExpo is UnBound, a sidelines-focused "show within a show" that will feature a range of non-book products across 25 categories--including candles, socks, T-shirts, greeting cards, journals, calendars, games, toys and art materials--from more than 100 companies. UnBound will be located in halls 3D and 3E, where booksellers will have a chance to view products, talk to manufacturers and suppliers and see some live demos. The product range is "diverse and carefully curated so that sourcing is productive for our merchandise buyers, while the element of discovery is maintained," Jenny Martin comments. In addition, the Choice Stage on the UnBound show floor will feature four nonbook-specific programs addressing visual merchandising, product trends and business-building strategies. (BookExpo has always had some sidelines exhibitors, but not with the focus and breadth that UnBound provides.)

Attending UnBound comes with no additional costs or separate entrance requirements. UnBound will also be open during BookCon, when it will transition to a more consumer-facing event with events and product demos.

"The advent of UnBound relates directly to the imperative that, as organizers, we address the changing needs of the book industry to keep BookExpo both vital and relevant to the thousands of businesses it serves," Jenny Martin notes. "Booksellers across the country have steadily added gifts to their product assortments to serve their customers more widely, keep their stores fresh and interesting--and of course, build their sales. In many cases, doing so has made the difference in a store's continued viability."

"We hope to bring in a new audience of stores that may have a curiosity about BookExpo but didn't really see it as something for them," says UnBound event director Patti Stracher-Lee, who for 25 years was v-p and show director of the National Stationery Show, a key sidelines source for many booksellers. "We know that there is a growing need for booksellers to build their sidelines business, and while there are shows out there for them to do that, that means another trip, another bunch of days out of the office."

Chris Morrow, owner of Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt., and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and an ABA board member, offers high praise from the bookseller's perspective. "As a time-starved bookseller, it is always nice to be exposed to new vendors at locations I'm already visiting," he says. "Sidelines make up an ever-growing segment of our business, and it will be great to see these vendors at BookExpo."

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