Copperfield's, which has five stores in Napa and Sonoma counties in
Northern California, had a "terrific Thanksgiving weekend," with sales
up in the 20% range, half of which buyer Ty Wilson attributed to its
expanded Napa store. That store reopened in March with nearly 10,000
square feet of space, up from 3,500, in a location just outside of
downtown with an attractive range of stores nearby, including a Target,
a Pete's and a Trader Joe's grocery.
So far in the season, "nonfiction is where there's a lot of activity," Wilson said. The company has launched a holiday promotion that features 14 adult and 13 children's titles called "gifts of comfort and joy."
Copperfield's has done well with many titles that are selling solidly across the country, including Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, The Lighthouse by P.D. James, Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire, Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan and The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey "may have longer legs than any Oprah book for a long while," Wilson said, and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See "has been very consistent." The company has been promoting On Beauty by Zadie Smith and The March by E.L. Doctorow.
A range of other titles are doing well for a variety of reasons, including local connections.
For example, a star this year is The Winning Spirit: 16 Timeless Principles That Drive Performance Excellence, a new motivational title by local god Joe Montana (the former 49ers quarterback). At one signing for the book in its Santa Rosa store, Copperfield's sold 1,300 copies. Montana will run the same play again in Napa in several weeks, and Wilson hopes for similar sales. In the meantime, the book continues to score major sales.
A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester has a special edge in this part of the country and is "selling well."
Billy Crystal's show of the same name has opened in San Francisco and has boosted sales of his 700 Sundays.
In part because "dog books always do well over the holidays," Marley and Me by John Grogan, about a young couple whose starter dog, a lab with a wild streak, turns out to be a nightmare, is selling, too.
Noting that humor does well at Christmas, Wilson said he is "personally pulling" for The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, which he praised for its "Onion-esque humor."
An unusual non-Christmas Christmas book that is having "a nibble" is The Return of Light: The Imminent Restoration of Earth and Liberation of Humanity by Karen Kirschbaum and Elora Gabriel. Already 16 copies of these "winter solstice stories" have sold in one Copperfield's store, Wilson said.
Wilson has bright expectations for The Complete Calvin and Hobbes as well as the new National Geographic Complete Birds of North America. "Birding guides are always big here," he noted. And the sudoku book that's "emerged seems to be Workman's," which Wilson called "great stocking-stuffer size."
Copperfield's "restaurant cookbook of the season" will likely be Boulevard: The Cookbook, from the San Francisco restaurant. Wilson expressed some concern about the book's availability. Other titles he is tracking for adequate supplies:
Copperfields stores range in size from 4,000 to 10,000 square feet, and sales volume varies accordingly. They all have similar demographics, but each is distinct. "Surfing titles are more popular in Sonoma than in Napa," for example, Wilson said. But all five stores have shared in what Wilson called a "very good year for us. We're very optimistic about Christmas coming through as well."
So far in the season, "nonfiction is where there's a lot of activity," Wilson said. The company has launched a holiday promotion that features 14 adult and 13 children's titles called "gifts of comfort and joy."
Copperfield's has done well with many titles that are selling solidly across the country, including Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, The Lighthouse by P.D. James, Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire, Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan and The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey "may have longer legs than any Oprah book for a long while," Wilson said, and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See "has been very consistent." The company has been promoting On Beauty by Zadie Smith and The March by E.L. Doctorow.
A range of other titles are doing well for a variety of reasons, including local connections.
For example, a star this year is The Winning Spirit: 16 Timeless Principles That Drive Performance Excellence, a new motivational title by local god Joe Montana (the former 49ers quarterback). At one signing for the book in its Santa Rosa store, Copperfield's sold 1,300 copies. Montana will run the same play again in Napa in several weeks, and Wilson hopes for similar sales. In the meantime, the book continues to score major sales.
A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester has a special edge in this part of the country and is "selling well."
Billy Crystal's show of the same name has opened in San Francisco and has boosted sales of his 700 Sundays.
In part because "dog books always do well over the holidays," Marley and Me by John Grogan, about a young couple whose starter dog, a lab with a wild streak, turns out to be a nightmare, is selling, too.
Noting that humor does well at Christmas, Wilson said he is "personally pulling" for The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, which he praised for its "Onion-esque humor."
An unusual non-Christmas Christmas book that is having "a nibble" is The Return of Light: The Imminent Restoration of Earth and Liberation of Humanity by Karen Kirschbaum and Elora Gabriel. Already 16 copies of these "winter solstice stories" have sold in one Copperfield's store, Wilson said.
Wilson has bright expectations for The Complete Calvin and Hobbes as well as the new National Geographic Complete Birds of North America. "Birding guides are always big here," he noted. And the sudoku book that's "emerged seems to be Workman's," which Wilson called "great stocking-stuffer size."
Copperfield's "restaurant cookbook of the season" will likely be Boulevard: The Cookbook, from the San Francisco restaurant. Wilson expressed some concern about the book's availability. Other titles he is tracking for adequate supplies:
- A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich
- The Elements of Style Illustrated
- 365: No Repeats by Rachael Ray
Copperfields stores range in size from 4,000 to 10,000 square feet, and sales volume varies accordingly. They all have similar demographics, but each is distinct. "Surfing titles are more popular in Sonoma than in Napa," for example, Wilson said. But all five stores have shared in what Wilson called a "very good year for us. We're very optimistic about Christmas coming through as well."