At Porter Square Books, Cambridge, Mass., an increase in Black Friday sales came as a pleasant surprise. "It's not typically huge for us, although this year it was," said general manager Dale Szczeblowski. Sales slowed down on Saturday and Sunday, but the store is doing "remarkably well given the state of things," Szczeblowski added. In the four years since Porter Square Books opened, there has been a steady increase in revenue. At the beginning of this year, however, Szczeblowski had budgeted for a slowdown in the store's rapid growth. "The talk at the time was that the economy was going to be shaky, but no one knew what was eventually going to happen."
Sales at Porter Square Books were up in October and flat in November. "I don't know what to expect in December," Szczeblowski said. "We've been trying to anticipate that to some extent by trimming payroll and inventory, and I think it has set us in good stead. I'm nervous like everybody. At this point, it's all in motion. It's just a matter of execution and doing the best job we can for our customers."
Porter Square Books held an event nearly every day from September through November. In December the store curtails events because fixtures would have to be moved to create space, which would disrupt holiday shopping. It was by "happenstance," said Szczeblowski, that two events were lined up to kick off the season this year.
The store held a "Holiday Books Ideas" gathering on Wednesday night at the suggestion of two Random House reps, who shared gift recommendations. Their choices included Alan Bennett's comic fable The Clothes They Stood Up In--described as the perfect anti-Christmas book--and Blindspot by historians Jill Lepore and Jane Kamensky, both of whom live in Cambridge. Their novel, set in Boston on the eve of the American Revolution, goes on sale December 9.
The store is holding a second holiday-themed event this weekend with Boston Globe contributor Lisa Zwirn. On Sunday afternoon, along with signing copies of Christmas Cookies: 50 Recipes to Treasure for the Holiday Season, Zwirn will treat shoppers to baked goods made from recipes in the book.
Titles selling well that Szczeblowski expects will maintain momentum during the holiday season are Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed, Terry Tempest Williams's Finding Beauty in a Broken World--spurred by a store signing and an interview on a local NPR show--and Muriel Barbery's novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog. "We've sold several hundred copies of Elegance, and it's not slowing down at all," said Szczeblowski.
Coffee table tomes by two Cambridge photographers are proving to be popular gift selections. One is Szczeblowski's staff pick for December, Alex MacLean's book of aerial images, Over: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point (which has an introduction by Bill McKibben), and the other is Rosamond Purcell's "unusual and amazing" Egg & Nest, which showcases pictures of avian habitats.
A Cambridge connection is boosting sales of a sideline item: soaps from Arghand, a cooperative in Kandahar, Afghanistan, founded by former NPR reporter and Cambridge resident Sarah Chayes. Arghand's Soap Stones are made from pomegranates, roses and other fruits and flowers and hand-molded to resemble pieces of marble.
For young readers, children's book buyer Carol Stoltz recommends Pete & Pickles by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. Other favorites are The 13 Clocks, a revamped version of James Thurber's gothic fairy tale (with an introduction by Neil Gaiman) and the anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out. The store has taken "a pretty strong position" on The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which went on sale yesterday, although pre-pub buzz for the J.K. Rowling tale has been quieter than Szczeblowski expected. "Certainly we have not seen the pre-order frenzy that we did with the Harry Potter books," he said.
To help get books into the hands of children in need during the holidays, Porter Square Books is working with the Cambridge Public Library. Store customers receive a 20% discount on book donations, which are distributed by the library to families living in transitional lodgings.
So far this season there is no must-have title, noted Szczeblowski, who is concerned that if one does emerge in the next several weeks "we're all going to be chasing it and the publisher won't have it" due to tighter inventory controls. "There are a lot of good books out there, and that's always a healthy situation rather than having one book drive sales. But we probably could've used that one big book to make people come in."
Porter Square Books will open on January 1 from 1 to 5 p.m. for an annual sale (everything in the store is 20% off). Szczeblowski came across the idea several years ago in a Bookselling This Week article about Changing Hands in Tempe, Ariz., and other stores that have had success with a New Year's Day sale. Beginning mid-December, the sale is promoted with bag stuffers and on-air NPR spots. "It has grown every year," said Szczeblowski. "We see it as a way to thank customers for supporting us during the holiday season. Plus it's a great alternative for people who don't want to sit around and watch football all day."--Shannon McKenna Schmidt