In Long Beach, Calif., Bel Canto Books resides in a larger retail collective called The Hangout, owner Jhoanna Belfer explained. Belfer's bookstore spans around 400 square feet of The Hangout's 4,000 square foot total, and Belfer noted that the collective dropped its mask requirement pretty much as soon as the state of California officially loosened its pandemic restrictions on Tuesday.
Things are now essentially on the honor system, Belfer continued, with people deciding for themselves whether they need to wear a mask. Noting that she plans to continue wearing one for the immediate future, Belfer said she agrees with the honor system choice, feeling it is "unreasonable to ask businesses to police the public."
While it's only been a short while since those restrictions were lifted, she's observed that roughly half of the collective's shoppers are still wearing masks. She emphasized that throughout the pandemic, community members have been very good about wearing masks and respecting business owners who are still asking for them.
Belfer opened Bel Canto Books in November 2019, just a few months before the pandemic began. Asked what it was like navigating the first few months of the pandemic as such a new store, Belfer answered that Bel Canto's nontraditional business model proved a blessing. At the time the physical store was a single bookshelf in The Hangout, which made it very easy for her to "take the inventory home and work from home."
Before setting up shop in The Hangout, Bel Canto Books operated as a pop-up book club, with Belfer creating curated book lists for customers based on their reading preferences. When the store had to close down last spring, Belfer pivoted back to that model, though she began delivering books to customers located in Long Beach. She also started a strong virtual author events series, and on that subject Belfer added that she doesn't plan to have any in-person events until at least the end of August.
Prior to the pandemic, Belfer had hoped to expand Bel Canto's event offerings. So long as things continue to return to normal, she's looking forward to starting author dinners and hosting community workshops on topics like financial literacy for young people and crafting college essays. At the same time, Belfer will continue to work on the store's Give Back campaigns. She's run two such campaigns so far, one to benefit AAPI organizations and another to create a children's library at a local affordable housing complex.
Looking further ahead, Belfer will continue to "wait this out" and see where the store stands at the end of the year. At that point she'll consider her options, including opening a free-standing store of her own or partnering with more businesses in Long Beach.
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| Changing Hands in Tempe | |
At Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe and Phoenix, Ariz., 2021 has been good so far, reported co-owner and CEO Cindy Dach. The stores' numbers are strong, especially for the First Draft bar. It took the biggest hit during the pandemic but is "finally back and operating with great sales." Hours are still reduced compared to pre-pandemic operations, but with in-person author events on hiatus, those hours work for Changing Hands's current business model.
In early 2021, the bookstore "went through a process of rewriting all of our job descriptions," to reflect how booksellers' roles have changed during the pandemic. That reevaluation process has not only changed "how we think about what we do," it's also changed workflow. Dach noted that the leadership team and managers meet much more often now compared to past years, and even though things are gradually returning to normal, the store is "still recovering and learning." They frequently discuss "lots of plans and back-up plans as we look further out in the calendar."
Asked whether the store has relaxed mask requirements or occupancy limits in recent weeks, Dach explained that "as soon as our mayors lifted the mask requirements, we had to follow." Despite most customers being wonderful about following the store's mask mandate, there were some "serious altercations" with anti-maskers, and some Changing Hands staff members were "traumatized from the experience."
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| Changing Hands, Phoenix | |
Staff members still wear masks, and customers are encouraged to wear them, but staff members are not required to approach a customer who enters the store without a mask. The majority of customers, Dach added, still do wear masks. And as far as occupancy limits go, summer is the slow season in Arizona, so that has taken care of itself.
On the subject of resuming in-person events, Dach said Changing Hands has already started hosting some small "meet-and-greet" book signings with timed entries. Those are being hosted in the store's meeting room, and she emphasized that these are not "sit-down, lecture-style events." The store has a ticketed event coming up in July that will start after hours and has a capacity limit. The Changing Hands events team is touching base frequently about requests and opportunities for events, and it "really is a day-by-day discussion." --Alex Mutter