[Editors' note: the following is a two-part article. Part two will follow tomorrow.]
For the moment, Deb Hunter, known to her business associates as Top Banana, owns two bookstores, a gift shop and two warehouses, with more on the way.
"I started working for a book warehouse about eight years ago," Hunter said. "I was supposed to be a bookkeeper but ended up going right into sales because I was good at bringing in customers." Soon she realized there were more books than her then-boss was taking advantage of, and, as she put it, "I started getting ideas."
Aware that her hometown of Hillsborough, N.J., was lacking a bookstore, Hunter went into action, opening Chicklet Books in December 2004. "I had no experience running a bookstore," she commented. "I hired a manager, who really interviewed me more than I did her. I do the business end; she manages the store."
Chicklet Books is 1,300 square feet of hot pink, purple, apple green and turquoise. "The store has a boutique atmosphere and a light and easy mood," according to the Top Banana (which is what appears on Hunter's business card; she eschewed the more formal owner or CEO). "This store was set up for the soccer mom who needs to run in, pick up a book club title, maybe pick up something for the kids, and run out," she said. "She's in here fifteen, twenty minutes tops. We also do a lot of special ordering, which our customers really appreciate."
Currently remainders account for 70% of the inventory, and new books the rest. Hunter has made a customer-driven decision to shift that to 60% new, 40% remainders. She described Chicklet's bestsellers as "more or less the same as everyone else's, including all the Oprah books and book club reads. Like others, we promoted the Dummies books last month."
In March 2005, just three few months after opening Chicklet, Hunter lost her warehouse job. One day later, Hunter took the plunge and signed a lease on a warehouse of her own in Hillsborough. "I had two tractor-trailers of books coming," she said. "A friend from Kentucky came to help out, as did my three young adult children. We sorted books for two weeks straight."
The warehouse was dubbed Unique and Novel. The very colorful Web site calls it "the fun new place to purchase books!" It also says that Unique and Novel plans to "change the face of the remainder/book wholesale business." She is doing this in two ways, she said. "First, most people in remainders are older men, and I'm a young female. We're always laughing and smiling and provide customer service galore. We use a very personal approach." Second, she emphasized, "I'm there for the small stores. I require no minimum orders."
The friend from Kentucky decided the book business, at least Hunter-style, was in fact fun and encouraged Hunter to open a warehouse in Kentucky. She did, noting that doing business is much less expensive there than in New Jersey, and that many of her suppliers are in nearby Tennessee and Indiana. Her friend manages the warehouse, which is located in Erlanger. (Hunter makes monthly trips.) She counts among her current customers a wide range of remainder stores, chains and independents.
Next came Hunter's Princeton acquisition, Glen Echo Books, a 700-sq.-ft. store that she opened last October. Her two bookstores have entirely different feelings. Whereas Chicklet is full of purple, pink and green, the Princeton store is "more esoteric," in keeping with the mood of the community. It has a "somewhat funky, old world décor, sun flowers and Tuscany," Hunter said. The inventory is predominantly nonfiction--"very highbrow"--and includes a fair number of used books. Both stores have children's sections, though not surprisingly, Chicklet's is more predominant.
In addition to the bookstores and warehouses, Hunter also owns the Purple Door, a gift store across the parking lot from Chicklet Books that opened last August. And, she will open a new bookstore, Words, and coffee shop, Afterwords, in the "quaint tourist antiquing town" of Hardy, Ark., this May. Why Arkansas? "Some friends told me they needed a local bookstore and urged me to open one," said Hunter, who is one-third owner of the project. She noted that being in a tourist town will mean "a different buying strategy." Her hope is to develop a model that can be expanded to other tourist towns in the future.--Maria Heidkamp
For the moment, Deb Hunter, known to her business associates as Top Banana, owns two bookstores, a gift shop and two warehouses, with more on the way.
"I started working for a book warehouse about eight years ago," Hunter said. "I was supposed to be a bookkeeper but ended up going right into sales because I was good at bringing in customers." Soon she realized there were more books than her then-boss was taking advantage of, and, as she put it, "I started getting ideas."
Aware that her hometown of Hillsborough, N.J., was lacking a bookstore, Hunter went into action, opening Chicklet Books in December 2004. "I had no experience running a bookstore," she commented. "I hired a manager, who really interviewed me more than I did her. I do the business end; she manages the store."
Chicklet Books is 1,300 square feet of hot pink, purple, apple green and turquoise. "The store has a boutique atmosphere and a light and easy mood," according to the Top Banana (which is what appears on Hunter's business card; she eschewed the more formal owner or CEO). "This store was set up for the soccer mom who needs to run in, pick up a book club title, maybe pick up something for the kids, and run out," she said. "She's in here fifteen, twenty minutes tops. We also do a lot of special ordering, which our customers really appreciate."
Currently remainders account for 70% of the inventory, and new books the rest. Hunter has made a customer-driven decision to shift that to 60% new, 40% remainders. She described Chicklet's bestsellers as "more or less the same as everyone else's, including all the Oprah books and book club reads. Like others, we promoted the Dummies books last month."
In March 2005, just three few months after opening Chicklet, Hunter lost her warehouse job. One day later, Hunter took the plunge and signed a lease on a warehouse of her own in Hillsborough. "I had two tractor-trailers of books coming," she said. "A friend from Kentucky came to help out, as did my three young adult children. We sorted books for two weeks straight."
The warehouse was dubbed Unique and Novel. The very colorful Web site calls it "the fun new place to purchase books!" It also says that Unique and Novel plans to "change the face of the remainder/book wholesale business." She is doing this in two ways, she said. "First, most people in remainders are older men, and I'm a young female. We're always laughing and smiling and provide customer service galore. We use a very personal approach." Second, she emphasized, "I'm there for the small stores. I require no minimum orders."
The friend from Kentucky decided the book business, at least Hunter-style, was in fact fun and encouraged Hunter to open a warehouse in Kentucky. She did, noting that doing business is much less expensive there than in New Jersey, and that many of her suppliers are in nearby Tennessee and Indiana. Her friend manages the warehouse, which is located in Erlanger. (Hunter makes monthly trips.) She counts among her current customers a wide range of remainder stores, chains and independents.
Next came Hunter's Princeton acquisition, Glen Echo Books, a 700-sq.-ft. store that she opened last October. Her two bookstores have entirely different feelings. Whereas Chicklet is full of purple, pink and green, the Princeton store is "more esoteric," in keeping with the mood of the community. It has a "somewhat funky, old world décor, sun flowers and Tuscany," Hunter said. The inventory is predominantly nonfiction--"very highbrow"--and includes a fair number of used books. Both stores have children's sections, though not surprisingly, Chicklet's is more predominant.
In addition to the bookstores and warehouses, Hunter also owns the Purple Door, a gift store across the parking lot from Chicklet Books that opened last August. And, she will open a new bookstore, Words, and coffee shop, Afterwords, in the "quaint tourist antiquing town" of Hardy, Ark., this May. Why Arkansas? "Some friends told me they needed a local bookstore and urged me to open one," said Hunter, who is one-third owner of the project. She noted that being in a tourist town will mean "a different buying strategy." Her hope is to develop a model that can be expanded to other tourist towns in the future.--Maria Heidkamp