In Portland, Ore., Green Bean Books has been closed to browsing for nearly a year. Given that the store is less than 500 square feet, owner Jennifer Green explained, she and her team decided to err on the side of caution and remain closed for the time being. The store has been able to do all right with its new operational model, which relies on telephone and e-mail orders, contactless pick-up and free porch delivery within three miles.
The store has a covered deck, and when the weather permits the team regularly sets up a "whole heap" of books and sidelines on the porch as a kind of pop-up shop. They also set up a bookseller advice booth on the deck "just for fun." The store's interior is now a "mini fulfillment center," with only one or two booksellers working at a time to maintain social distancing. While Green and her team miss doing in-person events, the store has pivoted to doing virtual storytimes and school visits.
Green noted that prior to the pandemic, the store didn't have an online store at all, and online sales have "skyrocketed." Last year, in-store sales--which were really porch sales--were much lower than they were in 2019. Outside of the holidays, summers are usually the busiest time for the store, but summer 2020 was extremely sluggish. All told, the store actually came out slightly ahead in 2020 because of the immense increase in online sales. Green and her team are happy about those final numbers, but Green said they don't feel like they've been fulfilling their passion as booksellers, yet they've been working twice as hard.
The Green Bean Books team has been "completely blown away" by the love and support they received from their community. They've had the store's back throughout the entire pandemic, with some customers even offering to help deliver books and stopping by with treats like hot tea.
When asked about her outlook for 2021, Green said the year started out slow, but she can "already feel the tempo slowly building" and she is optimistic about this summer. She hopes to reopen once more people in the community get vaccinated, including her booksellers. As long as there is still a significant risk of transmission, though, she intends to keep operating in this hybrid model.
---
 |
|
| Drew and Erin Pineda | |
Andrew Pineda, co-owner of 27th Letter Books in Detroit, Mich., reported that prior to the pandemic, his store was operating mostly in a pop-up and event-based capacity, culminating in a two-month holiday shop during the 2019-2020 winter. After the pandemic began, 27th Letter switched to an online-only model for the majority of 2020, while Pineda and store co-owner Erin Pineda continue to look for a permanent bricks-and-mortar space.
Between the strong winter pop-up that lasted until the end of January 2020 and the surge in online sales, the store saw better sales in 2020 than in 2019. Pineda noted, however, that the store didn't make its debut until summer 2019, when they started vending at festivals.
One of the bright spots amid all of the difficulty, Pineda said, was that without a "hectic and fast-paced" pop-up schedule, they were able to "regroup and focus on longer-term strategic goals."
Looking ahead in 2021, Pineda plans to continue online sales while restructuring the business to be a longer-lasting, more equitable and community driven space while working toward securing a bricks-and-mortar location. At the moment, he added, events and pop-up opportunities are "too risky" to be worth it. --Alex Mutter