Linda McLoughlin Figel, owner of {pages} a bookstore in Manhattan Beach, Calif., reported that her store had a great December after a "very, very tough year," and while the store was down in the fourth quarter overall, December was up by almost 30%.
The store allows four shoppers inside at a time, with masks and hand sanitizer required. The store also offers curbside pick-up and Figel and her team are providing free local delivery. {pages} has also added personal shopping appointments, which occur outside of normal operating hours. With no lines outside the store, customers didn't have to rush during these appointments, and Figel noted that they tended to result in much larger purchases--$200, $300 and more. Despite customers' shopping habits being so different, the store was still busy right through Christmas Eve, with the last customer leaving around 5 p.m.
Figel praised her staff for pivoting to online sales early on during the pandemic and ensuring that the store "didn't miss a week of sales." She and her general manager Kristin Rasmussen committed to not laying off any employees for the months the store was closed, and they worked with the store's landlord to defer portions of rent from April and May to 2021. Generally speaking, the store is "really feeling the absence" of in-person author events and off-site events like the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Figel and her team began doing virtual events early and often, but they do not contribute to sales the way in-person events do.
So far, this January is running behind January 2020 in terms of sales. Figel and her staff are working hard to schedule events and find creative ways of engaging customers and selling more books, but they will likely have to go back to their landlord for additional relief. With restaurants closed or open only for take-out, downtown Manhattan Beach is a "ghost town," and {pages} is "definitely feeling it."
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In Denham Springs, La., Cavalier House Books was up during the fourth quarter when it came to in-store and online sales, said co-owner John Cavalier, but overall sales were still down due to the lack of school book fairs and other events.
The "biggest, most obvious" change this holiday season was hearing customers "vocalizing their desire to shop with us instead of Amazon." That was a "huge psychological boost" for everyone at the store, with Cavalier noting that the community "is sort of a big-box community and we often feel like messages about localism go unheard." Holiday sales peaked during the weekend before Christmas, but some customers began their holiday shopping back in September. There were "way more people" ordering specific titles well in advance of Christmas, while people who came into the shop spent more during a single transaction than is typical.
Operations at the store are basically normal, though mask-wearing is strictly enforced. The store has not had to worry much about hitting occupancy limits, as increased online ordering creates more "in-and-out customers." Cavalier has also been staggering staff shifts to make sure there is ample space for booksellers to maintain social distance while on the job.
With January and February the slowest months of the year for the store, Cavalier's stance is "wait and see." They've got plenty of housekeeping things planned, and while they're optimistic, they are "pretty much just looking at summer to hopefully start taking a risk or two." --Alex Mutter