In Los Angeles, Calif., Skylight Books general manager Mary Williams reported that the store will stay open for as long as it can.
Bars, movie theaters and gyms have all been closed, while restaurants can only do take out or delivery, and Williams said she and her team feel it's "only a matter of time" before the city or state closes retailers as well. But until that time, Skylight plans to stay open.
So far, sales have been steady overall, but the majority of them have transitioned to online or phone orders. Over the weekend, foot traffic was slower than normal but still busier than one might think. Come Monday morning, however, there were definitely more staff members in store than customers.
Thanks in part to promotions that include free media mail delivery for all book orders and $5 priority mail shipping for orders over $25, Williams has seen a significant increase in the number of online orders. The store is also offering curbside pickup, though only a handful of people have made use of the offer.
On the subject of how her staff is faring, Williams said the uncertainty is very hard on everyone. She doesn't know how long the store will be able to remain open, or how long the store can afford to pay everyone their full wages should the store have to close for more than a few weeks. The increase in online sales is certainly helping, but it's still not up to the level of in-store sales with author events almost every night.
Williams added that this is very unlike a recession, where costs and sales ramp down over time. In this case, she said, "we have all our regular invoices from the past month or two coming due, with sales potentially dropping dramatically all at once. We didn't anticipate this scenario, and it's a scary one now that it's here."
In Brentwood, Calif., DIESEL, a bookstore is also staying open, with co-owners John Evans and Alison Reid planning to reassess the situation day-by-day and frequently check in with their staff members. Starting this week the store is operating on slightly reduced hours (10-6 instead of 10-8), but that has more to do with one staff member having just moved away and another being on vacation than with the pandemic.
Evans reported that the store is certainly not crowded, but people are still coming in, especially to look for books, puzzles and games for children who are now home from school. DIESEL has also started doing free local delivery and curbside pickup, and while the latter has been popular, no one has really taken advantage of the free local delivery. Evans pointed to curbside pickup as a good option that could allow bookstores to keep doing business without having customers enter the shop, since they can pay online or over the phone.
Until this week, Evans continued, most of what he and his colleagues were dealing with was canceled or postponed events. Now, he and Reid are weighing whether to remain open, with the safety and health of their staff their biggest concerns. At the same time, it seems that staying open and providing books could be very helpful to people.
"It's very hard to tell what the best thing is to do," Evans said.