In Iowa City, Iowa, Prairie Lights opened for limited in-store shopping this past Saturday. Owner Jan Weissmiller reported that the store is now open by appointment only in the mornings. From noon until 6 p.m. the store is open to walk-ins, but no more than 12 people are allowed in at a time. All customers and employees are required to wear masks, and there are plastic screens at the cash registers and information desks.
Weissmiller noted that since the store is 10,000 square feet, she and her team feel comfortable with that level of occupancy, and the store will likely continue operating this way through Christmas. Iowa remains one of the "very worst" states in the country when it comes to Covid cases, but Weissmiller pointed out that Dr. Fauci and others have said that with masks and social distancing requirements, "businesses throughout the nation should feel that they can operate safely."
On Saturday, she continued, there were lines outside of the store for most of the day, and sales were on par with past Small Business Saturdays. Online orders have been "incredible," and the store is continuing to do curbside pick-up and free local delivery. Many customers, she added, still prefer to shop that way.
So far, Weissmiller said, she and her team feel they've been "very lucky" with stock given the predictions for the season. They ordered heavy quantities of the books they expected to do well, and "so far so good" on that front. The store did run out of Shuggie Bain and Interior Chinatown when the awards were announced, but those titles are shipping again and Weismiller expects to have both back in stock this week.
Prairie Lights is also starting to run low on Library of America's African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song, and she's hopeful that the store will get that back in again soon. The team is also keeping an eye on A Wealth of Pigeons.
When asked about any bright spots over the past several months, Weissmiller answered that "other than the election," the bright spot has been the store's customers. They've been "so dedicated and caring," and it's been a pleasure to hear from so many people who no longer live in Iowa City but are thinking of the store now. There has also been an outpouring of support for indie bookstores in general, and it is a "hopeful moment in that sense."
And although virtual events are "not at all the same" as in-person events, the store has hosted some "seriously good" events with writers like Marilynne Robinson and John Grisham. There was also an online event that featured a large group of poets reading from the work of Marvin Bell, the recording of which has been viewed more than 1,800 times.
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Georgia Court, owner of Bookstore 1 Sarasota in Sarasota, Fla., reported that her store reopened for browsing in mid-September, though she and her team are still offering curbside pick-up.
On the subject of holiday buying, Court said she did almost no additional holiday buying other than some sidelines like boxed holiday cards. Instead, the bookstore will be promoting items that are already in stock. She started getting the early shopping message out in October, and puzzles, she noted, have been very popular throughout the pandemic.
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The store started doing Zoom events during the pandemic, which Court said she likes, as the store has been able to host authors who normally might not be able to visit Sarasota. She's also invited other indie bookstores to participate for several events, and those have worked well; Court hopes to continue doing those sorts of events even after the pandemic. She and her team also decided to shorten the store's hours, and they plan to keep it that way.
She added that prior to the pandemic, the store began collaborating with a local Spanish-only theater, doing Spanish-language book clubs for adults in the store. During the pandemic, this has grown with the use of Zoom, and they've added two Spanish book clubs for children as well, which are "flourishing." --Alex Mutter