Koen-Levy Book Wholesalers, Moorestown, N.J., officially opened on
Halloween, October 31, although books didn't begin to pour into the
warehouse until mid-November. "Seeing every shelf empty was amazing and
scary at the same time," Jim DiMiero, senior sales and marketing
manager at Koen-Levy, told Shelf Awareness. Now, after nearly a
month of business, major publishers are heavily represented in the
title base, and Koen-Levy is adding publishers continually, aiming to
get back to "the Koen everyone knew," with a range of 50,000-60,000
titles in its inventory. Sheila Kowalsky, who is in charge of
purchasing, is focusing on bringing back small presses, independent
presses and university presses.
The company sent out several thousand credit applications to former Koen accounts and is offering what DiMiero called "a very generous 'welcome-back' " discount. Already, he continued, "a good majority of former Koen accounts who ordered regularly are back on board," and "10-20 forms are coming in every day. We've been warmly received." He noted that one New England bookstore commented happily to a publisher's rep that it was "great to place an order and have the books arrive the next day."
The return of Koen-Levy was aided by several factors, DiMiero said. For one, only a few months passed between the closing of bankrupt Koen Book Wholesalers in August and the opening of Koen-Levy in October. "If we had missed the holiday season and started up in January, it would have been tough," he noted. In addition, many of the old Koen team returned, and some important non-book assets, such as Koen's computer system, were bought by Koen-Levy, which was formed by Levy Home Entertainment and Bob Koen, the founder of Koen Book. "Luckily we were able to retain Chuck Lehman, the IT guy, who was even able to keep the old Koen phone numbers. For us to go out and say we have the same 800 numbers made things so much easier," DiMiero commented.
In the same way, most of the sales force remained intact. "Customers hear the same voice," DiMiero said, and the company is reestablishing its tradition of callouts: regular weekly sales calls "alerting accounts to what's come in, backorder status--a complete sales call."
Once the operation is up and running, Koen-Levy plans to "look at the changing model of wholesaling." The company may expand on the Koen tradition of having several reps in the field. As more and more orders come online and via EDI, the company aims to continue to interact with accounts, something that can be lost in the digital rush. It also will work on its new Web site, www.koenlevy.com, and revamp some of the old Koen publications, possibly merging the daily receiving report and weekly notes into "one, more concise" version sent via e-mail.
Already Koen-Levy is able to comment a bit on the holiday season. One hot title that is "gone"--again--is the $150 Complete Calvin and Hobbes. The story about Robert Sabuda's Winter's Tale is it may soon be in short supply. Some other major titles selling well include James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, The South Beach Diet Book by Arthur Agatston, Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire, Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter, The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam about New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Marley and Me by John Grogan, a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, has sold especially well because of the regional connection.
The company sent out several thousand credit applications to former Koen accounts and is offering what DiMiero called "a very generous 'welcome-back' " discount. Already, he continued, "a good majority of former Koen accounts who ordered regularly are back on board," and "10-20 forms are coming in every day. We've been warmly received." He noted that one New England bookstore commented happily to a publisher's rep that it was "great to place an order and have the books arrive the next day."
The return of Koen-Levy was aided by several factors, DiMiero said. For one, only a few months passed between the closing of bankrupt Koen Book Wholesalers in August and the opening of Koen-Levy in October. "If we had missed the holiday season and started up in January, it would have been tough," he noted. In addition, many of the old Koen team returned, and some important non-book assets, such as Koen's computer system, were bought by Koen-Levy, which was formed by Levy Home Entertainment and Bob Koen, the founder of Koen Book. "Luckily we were able to retain Chuck Lehman, the IT guy, who was even able to keep the old Koen phone numbers. For us to go out and say we have the same 800 numbers made things so much easier," DiMiero commented.
In the same way, most of the sales force remained intact. "Customers hear the same voice," DiMiero said, and the company is reestablishing its tradition of callouts: regular weekly sales calls "alerting accounts to what's come in, backorder status--a complete sales call."
Once the operation is up and running, Koen-Levy plans to "look at the changing model of wholesaling." The company may expand on the Koen tradition of having several reps in the field. As more and more orders come online and via EDI, the company aims to continue to interact with accounts, something that can be lost in the digital rush. It also will work on its new Web site, www.koenlevy.com, and revamp some of the old Koen publications, possibly merging the daily receiving report and weekly notes into "one, more concise" version sent via e-mail.
Already Koen-Levy is able to comment a bit on the holiday season. One hot title that is "gone"--again--is the $150 Complete Calvin and Hobbes. The story about Robert Sabuda's Winter's Tale is it may soon be in short supply. Some other major titles selling well include James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, The South Beach Diet Book by Arthur Agatston, Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire, Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter, The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam about New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Marley and Me by John Grogan, a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, has sold especially well because of the regional connection.