In what's become an annual tradition, last month Shelf Awareness's John Mutter traveled to New England to spend a few days visiting bookstores with Steve Fischer, executive director of the New England Independent Booksellers Association, this time in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here.
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| Sue Little at Jabberwocky | |
The last stop on our bookstore tour was Jabberwocky Bookshop, in Newburyport, Mass., a picturesque seaport on the North Shore, about 35 miles northeast of Boston. Jabberwocky was founded in 1972 in a tiny space by Sue Little, who was 22 at the time. ("I had $2,000 and borrowed another $2,000 to start it," she said.) Now, 43 years later, with 7,000 square feet of space and more than 30,000 titles, Jabberwocky is warm, cozy and impressive, jammed with interesting titles and with nooks and spaces made for lingering. "My tagline is 'dedicated to the fine art of browsing,' " Little said.
Jabberwocky draws from an area beyond Newburyport: it has many regular customers who come on average once a month from as far as the middle of the state and Maine and spend $150-$300 a visit. "When they come to the counter, they have a big stack of books and a grin on their face," Little said.
In part, Jabberwocky has the digital revolution to thank for this popularity. When e-books suddenly became the next big thing five or six years ago, Jabberwocky lost 40% of its fiction readers--all of whom were local--so the store made up for that by emphasizing "literary, intelligent and bookish" selections, particularly literature and poetry, art and nature. (Poetry sells even though this is a small town and there's no university here, Little said.) "We wanted people to come in and say, 'This is a real bookstore!' "
Despite digital and online competition, this store devoted to the printed book has been "super busy" the past three years, Little said, with just one exception. During this year's terrible winter, when there was "no place to park" because of the mountains of snow, sales were down for the first time in three years, but have been climbing back. April was good, and May was great, she continued. "People don't come here because they want us to survive," Little said. "People come because they get bargains and find things they want."
Besides the deep selection, draws include the twice-annual yellow-dot sales, when slow-moving titles are marked down in steps from 20% to 50% off. "Maybe I sell a title for less than I bought it for, but there's no shipping and handling," Little commented. "Also it makes Jabberwocky the customers' store--they can's wait for the next yellow-dot sale. For me, it's the building of customer loyalty."
Little also mixes in remainders with new books. ("I don't put them in a ghetto.") They're well marked, and they're "one reason we often have $200 sales," she said.
Other signs of the store's consumer-friendly approach are its discounts and loyalty programs and hours of 9-9 every day except for Sunday, when it's open 9-6.
In 1986, Jabberwocky moved into its current space in the Tannery Marketplace, a major retail center in Newburyport that was originally a tannery and has the feel of a remodeled old mill. Jabberwocky was the first retail operation in the newly opened shopping complex, which Little called "a brilliant marketing concept, kind of the heart of Newburyport," since downtown is more tourist-oriented. There are more than 50 stores and restaurants in Tannery Marketplace.
Little built the bookcases for the store and has kept them, saying, "They're odd, but they work." She added that she preferred to spend money that might have gone to new fixtures for books.
In the early years, the store had a café because there wasn't one nearby. Now that space has become a used book room and offers event space for up to 80 people.
In 1995, Sue Little's sister opened Eureka!, an educational toy store, next door to Jabberwocky. Little said this "makes us a destination. Every family that comes comes to both. It's great synergy." (Jabberwocky has a children's section upstairs.)
Jabberwocky had "a great events program" until the economy collapsed, Little said, and that has been growing again, in part because Newburyport "suddenly has lots of authors now," and local authors usually draw 80-100 people to events.
Little keeps strict tabs on inventory, which "has to turn three times a year unless it has cachet, like Shakespeare." Twice a year, staff goes "through every book in the store, checking its sales history" and weeds out slower-moving titles.
For Little, having the right titles in stock and being able to reorder fast are key. The staff tells customers that any books not in stock can be ordered, with about half available the next day and half in two days. "My customers love this and expect it now," Little said. "I have to do that to beat online competition."
She praised publishers who are "beginning to support bookstores more" now that they realize "the most important thing is to have the books on the shelves." She pointed to Penguin Random House ("God bless them") for "bumping due dates on invoices 30 days. That's huge."
In her ideal publishing world, stores that place frequent orders would be rewarded. "It would keep publisher backlist on the shelves," she said. "They would sell more and make up for the special discount."
Happily having as many of the right books on the shelves is working for Jabberwocky, which is the kind of store we could spend days in.
From there, we headed to South Station Boston for my train back home. Once again Steve was a great guide and host. Many thanks!