Things were so slow immediately after Thanksgiving at breathe books,
the Baltimore, Md., New Age store that "proprietress" Susan L. Weis
worried, "Is the party over?" But in the past two weeks, the year-old
store has regained its sales glow. "Each day is better," Weis told Shelf Awareness.
Weis has done several unusual things that have helped a season that isn't exactly a central celebration for many of the store's customers. For one, she is featuring three unlikely titles together on a table. In the center is Maya Angelou's new Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem, which she read at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree on December 1 and promoted on Oprah. Flanking it are two "classic" backlist titles by David Bader: Haikus for Jews: For You, a Little Wisdom and Zen Judaism: For You, a Little Enlightenment. "Everyone's picking up Amazing Peace," Weis said. "They don't even know it's been on Oprah."
The store is also promoting the fact that it will open on Christmas Day (12-4). "As a New Age store, we're sort of nondenominational, and as a Jew, I have nothing to do," Weis said with a laugh. Noting the Jewish tradition of eating Chinese food and seeing movies on Christmas Day, she continued, "We're saying now there can be Chinese food, movies and books!" Already, "We've gotten a great response. People say they're glad we'll be open so they'll have a place to go."
In addition, last weekend, Weis set up a table in a local independent movie theater showing The Chronicles of Narnia and sold copies of the book. (This is her second time selling books at a movie theater; see the September 28 Shelf Awareness for more about the first.) Although she said the numbers involved weren't "blockbuster" because the majority of moviegoers seem to own the books already, the $19.95 paperback set has sold "well" and several of the $45 boxed set have changed hands. Most important, she said, "It's been invaluable public relations to stand there and talk with people and have them take literature about the store, bookmarks and our calendar of events." Many people came by the store later, and some wound up buying other things.
Weis plans to sell at the theater again this coming weekend. "It's a crazy time of the year to do this," she admitted. But she makes it easy on herself by keeping the table, books and material at the theater and taking just the cash box. "Hopefully the cash box is heavier on the way back," she laughed.
Among titles selling well this season at breathe books:
"Funnily enough for a New Age store," Are Men Necessary? by Maureen Dowd and The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, both of which Weis featured on the store's Web site.
Eckhart Tolle's new book, A New Earth, Dr. Andrew Weil's new Healthy Aging and Pema Chodron's No Time to Lose.
Calendars are "doing great, too," Weis noted. The store has sold out of its Chodron calendars, and other bestsellers, all from Amber Lotus, include the Chakras and Native American Medicine Wheel calendars.
Affirmation and meditation card decks from Hay House are also "really big." These include Magical Mermaids and Dolphins; Doreen Virture; and The Teachings of Abraham.
Last but not least, as the holiday season winds down, one of the store's priciest bestsellers is the Zen alarm clock series, which retails for $100-$140. "People have looked at them all year long and are buying them now," Weis said, not at all alarmed by the delayed purchases.
Weis has done several unusual things that have helped a season that isn't exactly a central celebration for many of the store's customers. For one, she is featuring three unlikely titles together on a table. In the center is Maya Angelou's new Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem, which she read at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree on December 1 and promoted on Oprah. Flanking it are two "classic" backlist titles by David Bader: Haikus for Jews: For You, a Little Wisdom and Zen Judaism: For You, a Little Enlightenment. "Everyone's picking up Amazing Peace," Weis said. "They don't even know it's been on Oprah."
The store is also promoting the fact that it will open on Christmas Day (12-4). "As a New Age store, we're sort of nondenominational, and as a Jew, I have nothing to do," Weis said with a laugh. Noting the Jewish tradition of eating Chinese food and seeing movies on Christmas Day, she continued, "We're saying now there can be Chinese food, movies and books!" Already, "We've gotten a great response. People say they're glad we'll be open so they'll have a place to go."
In addition, last weekend, Weis set up a table in a local independent movie theater showing The Chronicles of Narnia and sold copies of the book. (This is her second time selling books at a movie theater; see the September 28 Shelf Awareness for more about the first.) Although she said the numbers involved weren't "blockbuster" because the majority of moviegoers seem to own the books already, the $19.95 paperback set has sold "well" and several of the $45 boxed set have changed hands. Most important, she said, "It's been invaluable public relations to stand there and talk with people and have them take literature about the store, bookmarks and our calendar of events." Many people came by the store later, and some wound up buying other things.
Weis plans to sell at the theater again this coming weekend. "It's a crazy time of the year to do this," she admitted. But she makes it easy on herself by keeping the table, books and material at the theater and taking just the cash box. "Hopefully the cash box is heavier on the way back," she laughed.
Among titles selling well this season at breathe books:
"Funnily enough for a New Age store," Are Men Necessary? by Maureen Dowd and The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, both of which Weis featured on the store's Web site.
Eckhart Tolle's new book, A New Earth, Dr. Andrew Weil's new Healthy Aging and Pema Chodron's No Time to Lose.
Calendars are "doing great, too," Weis noted. The store has sold out of its Chodron calendars, and other bestsellers, all from Amber Lotus, include the Chakras and Native American Medicine Wheel calendars.
Affirmation and meditation card decks from Hay House are also "really big." These include Magical Mermaids and Dolphins; Doreen Virture; and The Teachings of Abraham.
Last but not least, as the holiday season winds down, one of the store's priciest bestsellers is the Zen alarm clock series, which retails for $100-$140. "People have looked at them all year long and are buying them now," Weis said, not at all alarmed by the delayed purchases.