Small Stones Health Resource Center in Milwaukee, Wis., will move this
fall to a 3,800-sq.-ft. space next to the Harry W. Schwartz
Bookshops store in Brookfield. Schwartz will manage the retail part of
Small Stones, which is operated by Froedtert & the Medical College
of Wisconsin. Founded in 2002, Small Stones offers "the expertise of
nurse educators," a health resource library, healthy screenings and
classes and a store.
Carol Grossmeyer, president of Schwartz, commented: "Teaming up with Small Stones will bring a richness to all of our shops. Customers are thrilled that nurses will be on site to answer questions, and our employees are looking forward to tapping into their knowledge of health books and other resources."
The two stores will maintain the same hours, and customers will be able to walk from one store to the other inside. This is the first such collaboration by Schwartz.
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The judging panel for the 2006 Man Booker Prize for Fiction has chosen the longlist of 19 books. The shortlist will be announced September 14, and the winner will be honored on October 10.
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Borders will open a 22,000-sq.-ft. store on August 24 in Century City, Calif., on the upper level of the Westfield Shoppingtown Century City. On July 16, Borders closed the 9,250-sq.-ft. Brentano's store it operated in the mall. The new store will carry close to 200,000 book, music and movie titles.
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Total revenues at Varsity Group in the second quarter ended June 30 were $2 million, up 17.6% from $1.7 million in the same period a year. The net loss jumped to $2.5 million from $800,000 in the second quarter of 2005.
Varsity has embarked on a five-year, $500 million plan that Mark Thimmig, CEO and president, said would build a "four-quarter, four-divisions solutions company." The company has expanded offerings in its Varsity Books, Varsity Outfitters and Varsity Solutions divisions and created the Varsity Finance division.
Among the company's recent initiatives involving Varsity Books: partnerships with Office Depot, Campus Tech and Baker & Taylor, the last of which will allow Varsity "to begin offering a full line of consumer and entertainment products beginning in the fourth quarter 2006."
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Franklin Electronic Publishers, which boasts of having sold 37 million e-books since 1986, had a difficult quarter: revenue in the quarter ended June 30 declined 33% to $11.8 million from $17.6 million in the same period a year ago and the company had a net loss of just over $1 million compared to a net gain of $898,000.
President and CEO Barry Lipsky blamed the revenue loss on "two of our largest retail customers exiting categories and back to school product lines" and "changes in the terms of sale" to a third large customer that will "defer revenue to future periods."
He continued: "We have taken and are continuing to take steps to attempt to offset this decline with new products and new channels of distribution such as our continued expansion into the bookstore channel and the Asian markets."
---
The Eugene Register-Guard discusses the efforts taken in the past year by more than 30 customers of Tsunami Books, Eugene, Ore., to help keep the store in business. The group invested in Tsunami and became shareholders. "In all," the paper reported, "23 shareholders--or 33, including spouses--were admitted into the club. Their investments, totaling about $70,000, bought 32% of the company, while [founders David] Rhodes kept 28% and [Scott] Landfield 40%."
Among key elements of the group's effort: hiring a professional facilitator for at least the initial meetings and hiring a lawyer.
The Register-Guard wrote that Tsunami Books "has served since 1995 as a hub for book signings, folk music performances, writing workshops, and meetings of community and political activists. It has become especially well known as a local Mecca for poets, its shelves a welcoming outlet for writers and its book-framed stage a favorite spot for readings."
---
The New York Times focused on Holt's efforts on behalf of The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld, "a law professor and first-time novelist," which will appear September 5.
Among elements of the $500,000 marketing campaign for the book: the sending of 3,000 galleys to booksellers and media in April; the distribution of 5,000 more galleys at BEA; and lunches with booksellers in New York, Boston and San Francisco. The lunches went down well apparently: Elaine Petrocelli, owner of Book Passage in Corte Madera, Calif., was so enthusiastic that she ordered 275 copies of the book.
Sessalee Hensley, Barnes & Noble's fiction buyer, told the paper that the campaign has gotten her interest. "If a publisher is fully committed to a title, that's what we need to see," she said. "When it comes to looking at if the book did better or worse, a lot of times it comes down to marketing."
Carol Grossmeyer, president of Schwartz, commented: "Teaming up with Small Stones will bring a richness to all of our shops. Customers are thrilled that nurses will be on site to answer questions, and our employees are looking forward to tapping into their knowledge of health books and other resources."
The two stores will maintain the same hours, and customers will be able to walk from one store to the other inside. This is the first such collaboration by Schwartz.
---
The judging panel for the 2006 Man Booker Prize for Fiction has chosen the longlist of 19 books. The shortlist will be announced September 14, and the winner will be honored on October 10.
---
Borders will open a 22,000-sq.-ft. store on August 24 in Century City, Calif., on the upper level of the Westfield Shoppingtown Century City. On July 16, Borders closed the 9,250-sq.-ft. Brentano's store it operated in the mall. The new store will carry close to 200,000 book, music and movie titles.
---
Total revenues at Varsity Group in the second quarter ended June 30 were $2 million, up 17.6% from $1.7 million in the same period a year. The net loss jumped to $2.5 million from $800,000 in the second quarter of 2005.
Varsity has embarked on a five-year, $500 million plan that Mark Thimmig, CEO and president, said would build a "four-quarter, four-divisions solutions company." The company has expanded offerings in its Varsity Books, Varsity Outfitters and Varsity Solutions divisions and created the Varsity Finance division.
Among the company's recent initiatives involving Varsity Books: partnerships with Office Depot, Campus Tech and Baker & Taylor, the last of which will allow Varsity "to begin offering a full line of consumer and entertainment products beginning in the fourth quarter 2006."
---
Franklin Electronic Publishers, which boasts of having sold 37 million e-books since 1986, had a difficult quarter: revenue in the quarter ended June 30 declined 33% to $11.8 million from $17.6 million in the same period a year ago and the company had a net loss of just over $1 million compared to a net gain of $898,000.
President and CEO Barry Lipsky blamed the revenue loss on "two of our largest retail customers exiting categories and back to school product lines" and "changes in the terms of sale" to a third large customer that will "defer revenue to future periods."
He continued: "We have taken and are continuing to take steps to attempt to offset this decline with new products and new channels of distribution such as our continued expansion into the bookstore channel and the Asian markets."
---
The Eugene Register-Guard discusses the efforts taken in the past year by more than 30 customers of Tsunami Books, Eugene, Ore., to help keep the store in business. The group invested in Tsunami and became shareholders. "In all," the paper reported, "23 shareholders--or 33, including spouses--were admitted into the club. Their investments, totaling about $70,000, bought 32% of the company, while [founders David] Rhodes kept 28% and [Scott] Landfield 40%."
Among key elements of the group's effort: hiring a professional facilitator for at least the initial meetings and hiring a lawyer.
The Register-Guard wrote that Tsunami Books "has served since 1995 as a hub for book signings, folk music performances, writing workshops, and meetings of community and political activists. It has become especially well known as a local Mecca for poets, its shelves a welcoming outlet for writers and its book-framed stage a favorite spot for readings."
---
The New York Times focused on Holt's efforts on behalf of The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld, "a law professor and first-time novelist," which will appear September 5.
Among elements of the $500,000 marketing campaign for the book: the sending of 3,000 galleys to booksellers and media in April; the distribution of 5,000 more galleys at BEA; and lunches with booksellers in New York, Boston and San Francisco. The lunches went down well apparently: Elaine Petrocelli, owner of Book Passage in Corte Madera, Calif., was so enthusiastic that she ordered 275 copies of the book.
Sessalee Hensley, Barnes & Noble's fiction buyer, told the paper that the campaign has gotten her interest. "If a publisher is fully committed to a title, that's what we need to see," she said. "When it comes to looking at if the book did better or worse, a lot of times it comes down to marketing."