Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor, Mich., is preparing for the holiday season
by scaling back inventory, investing in more promotional advertising
and moving back its pre-Thanksgiving sale by a day so the
store can replenish inventory for the weekend and get an earlier sense
of which books are popular, according to the Michigan Business Review.
The reasons for the changes, Nicola Rooney told the paper: "First, the economy's not that great. Second, the Gulf Coast has taken a significant amount of people's discretionary income. People may not have as much to spend on themselves because they're spending on others."
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Today's New York Times corrects several comments made about Women and Children First, Chicago, Ill., in a Wednesday story about rules for parents and children in stores and other businesses. The story had said that a male employee of the feminist bookstore had asked a customer to stop breast feeding. (Women and Children First noted that this was a strange accusation considering that the store had no male employee and encourages breast feeding.) Concerning the incident, the paper said, "It was not the Women and Children First bookstore but another business in the neighborhood." As for another slap at the store, the Times added, "The article also misstated the bookstore's policy for children who break rules for story time. Parents are asked to take them away from the reading area; the children are not ejected."
For the store's full rebuttal and details that make you wonder if Jayson Blair is working freelance in the Windy City for the paper of record, go to Women and Children First's blog.
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Tonight NBC's Three Wishes highlights the story of Nicole Donant, a 13-year-old Girl Scout suffering from cerebral palsy in Mineral City, Ohio, who had started a book drive that collected more than 6,000 books for a proposed library in the town of 900 people. Donant contacted the producers of Three Wishes with several wishes, the largest of which involved creating the library. The show took her up on her desire, and with help from Brodart, Scholastic, Grolier--as well as Dell, GE, building companies and others--created a 3,200-sq.-ft. building called the Nicole Donant Library. For more on the story and pictures, check out the Times Reporter.
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The Apprentice's sorcerer? The AP has reported that St. Martin's is rushing Scooter Libby's 1996 novel The Apprentice back into press with a printing of 25,000 copies. The thriller by the indicted former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney is set in Japan in 1903.
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On Monday, when we mentioned the Web site taking a straw poll about whether or not Clement Hurd's cigarette should be returned to his photograph on Goodnight Moon, about 20 people had voted, the majority in favor the original, unairbrushed photograph. In the four days since then, the burning issue of smoking has ignited much interest: as of early this morning, the voting was almost tied at 5,321 in favor of the old photo and 5,237 for putting out the butt.
Maybe A. Bitterman should take charge of some of the country's voting machines--except that the default vote is "smoke" and a lot of electioneering occurs close to the polling place. . .
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From Cincinnati.com, in its entirety:
"The Blue Manatee, a children's bookstore in Oakley, has just opened a café called Decafé, and it's not unlike a coffee shop for kids and their parents. Just as parents get their special drinks with funny names at a coffee shop, kids here can order organic fruit smoothies such as the George and Martha, Blueberries for Sal, the Big Orange Splot, and others named for kids'-books. There are pastries from Frieda's Bakery, organic baby food, little bowls of Cheerios, and healthy snacks. Both restrooms are labeled Potty, and the chairs are mostly kid-sized. Decafé will be open longer hours than the bookstore, from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday."
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The East Valley Tribune makes a big nod to the hip younger employees at Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe,
Ariz., who have organized themselves into a club called "Page 23," which has "brewed a mission to bring in their favorite hipster authors for book readings and pair them with booze and live bands."
A recent event: "Monday night the group brought Davy Rothbart, founding editor of Found magazine and This American Life contributor (translation: 200 cool points) to the cozy Phoenix nightclub-cum-art gallery Modified Arts, where, with ironic hip-hop bling shimmering around his neck (100 more irony-tinged cool points), he read from his latest short story collection, The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas, and introduced his brother, Peter Rothbart, who played acoustic folk music."
The group has also convinced Salvador Plascencia, author of The People of Paper (McSweeney's, $22, 1932416218), to come and read, an event discussed in Shelf Awareness on August 25.
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The Martha's Vineyard Gazette sheds light on Sun Porch Books, Oak Bluffs, Mass., which reopened last week. Owned by Holly Mascott Nadler, "an Island writer and conductor of ghost tours," the store has mysteries, chick lit, a "laugh therapy" section, New Age and spiritual titles, books set on the Vineyard and children's titles.
The reasons for the changes, Nicola Rooney told the paper: "First, the economy's not that great. Second, the Gulf Coast has taken a significant amount of people's discretionary income. People may not have as much to spend on themselves because they're spending on others."
---
Today's New York Times corrects several comments made about Women and Children First, Chicago, Ill., in a Wednesday story about rules for parents and children in stores and other businesses. The story had said that a male employee of the feminist bookstore had asked a customer to stop breast feeding. (Women and Children First noted that this was a strange accusation considering that the store had no male employee and encourages breast feeding.) Concerning the incident, the paper said, "It was not the Women and Children First bookstore but another business in the neighborhood." As for another slap at the store, the Times added, "The article also misstated the bookstore's policy for children who break rules for story time. Parents are asked to take them away from the reading area; the children are not ejected."
For the store's full rebuttal and details that make you wonder if Jayson Blair is working freelance in the Windy City for the paper of record, go to Women and Children First's blog.
---
Tonight NBC's Three Wishes highlights the story of Nicole Donant, a 13-year-old Girl Scout suffering from cerebral palsy in Mineral City, Ohio, who had started a book drive that collected more than 6,000 books for a proposed library in the town of 900 people. Donant contacted the producers of Three Wishes with several wishes, the largest of which involved creating the library. The show took her up on her desire, and with help from Brodart, Scholastic, Grolier--as well as Dell, GE, building companies and others--created a 3,200-sq.-ft. building called the Nicole Donant Library. For more on the story and pictures, check out the Times Reporter.
---
The Apprentice's sorcerer? The AP has reported that St. Martin's is rushing Scooter Libby's 1996 novel The Apprentice back into press with a printing of 25,000 copies. The thriller by the indicted former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney is set in Japan in 1903.
---
On Monday, when we mentioned the Web site taking a straw poll about whether or not Clement Hurd's cigarette should be returned to his photograph on Goodnight Moon, about 20 people had voted, the majority in favor the original, unairbrushed photograph. In the four days since then, the burning issue of smoking has ignited much interest: as of early this morning, the voting was almost tied at 5,321 in favor of the old photo and 5,237 for putting out the butt.
Maybe A. Bitterman should take charge of some of the country's voting machines--except that the default vote is "smoke" and a lot of electioneering occurs close to the polling place. . .
---
From Cincinnati.com, in its entirety:
"The Blue Manatee, a children's bookstore in Oakley, has just opened a café called Decafé, and it's not unlike a coffee shop for kids and their parents. Just as parents get their special drinks with funny names at a coffee shop, kids here can order organic fruit smoothies such as the George and Martha, Blueberries for Sal, the Big Orange Splot, and others named for kids'-books. There are pastries from Frieda's Bakery, organic baby food, little bowls of Cheerios, and healthy snacks. Both restrooms are labeled Potty, and the chairs are mostly kid-sized. Decafé will be open longer hours than the bookstore, from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday."
---
The East Valley Tribune makes a big nod to the hip younger employees at Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe,
Ariz., who have organized themselves into a club called "Page 23," which has "brewed a mission to bring in their favorite hipster authors for book readings and pair them with booze and live bands."
A recent event: "Monday night the group brought Davy Rothbart, founding editor of Found magazine and This American Life contributor (translation: 200 cool points) to the cozy Phoenix nightclub-cum-art gallery Modified Arts, where, with ironic hip-hop bling shimmering around his neck (100 more irony-tinged cool points), he read from his latest short story collection, The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas, and introduced his brother, Peter Rothbart, who played acoustic folk music."
The group has also convinced Salvador Plascencia, author of The People of Paper (McSweeney's, $22, 1932416218), to come and read, an event discussed in Shelf Awareness on August 25.
---
The Martha's Vineyard Gazette sheds light on Sun Porch Books, Oak Bluffs, Mass., which reopened last week. Owned by Holly Mascott Nadler, "an Island writer and conductor of ghost tours," the store has mysteries, chick lit, a "laugh therapy" section, New Age and spiritual titles, books set on the Vineyard and children's titles.