Village Books in Bellingham, Wash., which has operated a gift store, Paper Dreams, next to its book business since 1982, has begun for the first time to integrate sidelines with books and vice versa. The biggest move so far has been putting cookbooks into Paper Dreams, which had been exclusively the non-book half of the business.
"We did that because we were carrying an increasing number of novelty cooking items in the gift store," explained Chuck Robinson, Village Books president, CEO and co-owner, via e-mail. "And we thought it was a place that even folks who were not regular book buyers would see cookbooks and purchase them for themselves or as gifts."
The stores have also integrated travel items with travel books and some games with the game book section. They plan also to put more gift items in related book sections, such as Asian items in the Eastern Religion/Philosophy section, as well as a smattering of books in the gift store. Some books on the Pacific Northwest, for example, have already been moved to the section of Paper Dreams with local and regional souvenirs. Although a few card racks have been moved into the bookstore, the majority of the cards will remain in the gift store, along with jewelry and clothing items.
So far, the changes have been well received, with an immediate boost in sales in the cooking section. Although cookbook sales dipped last holiday season, Robinson attributes that to a dearth of cooking bestsellers compared to the year before. "We believe more people are finding our cookbooks, which were in a rather obscure place before," he said.
For a long time, Robinson said, he has admired some bookstores that have integrated gifts and books effectively, such as BookPeople in Austin, Tex., and Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Ariz. As gifts and sidelines have become bigger and bigger parts of his store's business, the idea of integrating inventory has become more appealing.
"We've also long believed that folks don't really shop for books by section but by interests," Robinson added. "While building sections like 'books to read on an airplane' has always been appealing, the logistics of people finding certain books they are looking for has been daunting. This is one way to approach that idea: I'm going on a trip. I need a book, but, gosh, I also need a travel cosmetic kit, and, look, it's right there." --Alex Mutter
