In Bozeman, Mont., Country Bookshelf has been open for in-store browsing since June, reported owner Ariana Paliobagis. The store is also offering curbside pick-up, contactless in-store pick-up and delivery options, and Paliobagis noted that the store's shortened hours give the team enough time to handle online orders as well as clean and shelve without having to dodge browsing customers.
Thanks to a "super science-smart staffer," Country Bookshelf was an early adopter of masks. There are multiple hand sanitizer stations throughout the store, acrylic barriers at the registers and everything has been rearranged to make physical distancing easier. The store allows no more than 25 people in at a time, which is lower than the state-mandated maximum. And even though it's winter, the windows are open all day every day and the door is kept open as often as possible to help with ventilation.
Paliobagis also moved the staff break room to a larger space, set up a dedicated pack and ship area, and created workstations throughout the store. Throughout the pandemic the store has not had to lay off any staff or cut hours or pay, for which Paliobagis said she is "so grateful." They've also been able to keep everyone on the store's health insurance and have given raises and holiday bonuses. The store has also been offering periodic mental health days, with every full-time employee so far having three or four extra paid days off.
The community has noticed how careful the store has been, Paliobagis continued, and they thank her and her team for that regularly. There have been some exceptions, of course, including a screaming woman who had to be escorted out of the store while she threatened to call her lawyer. She was all bluster, and the customers in the store "just watched her tantrum in disbelief."
Paliobagis plans to keep pick-up and delivery going after the pandemic ends, and she said the store will not be doing any in-person events until at least 2022. Virtual events, including the Books in Common NW series done in partnership with two other Pacific Northwest stores, have become a "robust" part of the business. School book fairs will be virtual for the foreseeable future, and while they've gone well, they generally do not come close to in-person numbers. The store also has no plans to do off-site events, either, but Paliobagis and her team are figuring out ways to keep working with their various nonprofit and organizational partners.
Holiday sales were "crazy and nonstop," and, Paliobagis added, the store was up 27% in the fourth quarter. About 25% of sales came through the store's website, with another 10% via phone and e-mail. Sales were more evenly spread throughout the season and Country Bookshelf did have to put out the "At Capacity" sign frequently. After a "scary spring," the store ended the year with an 11% gain in sales over 2019, with the caveat being that now every sale costs more time and energy to make. 2021 has gotten off to a strong start, with January sales up by 28% over January 2020. While Paliobagis doesn't expect February and March to continue that trajectory, she does think the store will "continue to see modest growth reflecting the growth of our community."
---
Amy Thomas, owner of Pegasus Books in Berkeley and Oakland, Calif., reported that the three Pegasus locations are open to only a very few customers at a time each day, with the bulk of the store's business coming from online sales and pick-up orders. The stores are still observing the strict safety protocols that the team put in place in the early days of the pandemic. And while sales are still down "dramatically," operating costs are down enough to "make the math work for now." November and December sales, Thomas added, were much more robust than the team expected, and Pegasus was able to "catch up nicely" with its vendors.
Pegasus Books currently has a staff of 20 people, compared to 35 in the pre-pandemic days, and the stores are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day; pre-Covid, it was 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thomas said she believes the stores will be in this pattern "for at least several more months." The stores' landlords are "hanging in there with us," and Thomas sends them as much as she can. She noted that PPP was a "life-saver," and she's applied for a second draw that would help Pegasus "breathe easier during the slower seasons." --Alex Mutter