On the wall behind the counter and on counter tops, prioritize your messages - and clear out the rest. It's so easy to have too much going on here. Be purposeful.

tipping point.

There's a sea change happening in retail right now. Malls have an unprecedented (and unanticipated) number of vacancies and chain bookstores are closing locations. We may see even more of this activity throughout 2010.

Maybe Paco Underhill's new book will be called The Fall of the Mall (a sequel to his The Call of the Mall which was just published in 2005).

Opportunities will surface. Prospective booksellers may find a ready market with a chain closure (especially where malls are falling out of favor and small-scale bookstore chains are running our their leases). Existing store owners have the opportunity to gain this market share with outreach marketing.

The financial dynamics that work for a large-format chain store are much different than what can work for an indie entrepreneur. Several small chain bookstore markets with $600,000 and more in annual sales have surfaced recently.

It's good to be small and agile - with business values that are sensible for the long-term.
  

  reach beyond to grow.

We love the regional association holiday catalogs (NEIBA's catalog featured here). While e-newsletters are great for of-the-moment reminders, quick announcements, and boosting event attendance, a full marketing plan still needs another critical element: ways to reach out to find new customers.

You can blog, tweet and network, but don't lose sight of the importance of a diverse marketing plan that covers your entire year - and goes beyond people who already know you and shop your store.

Even with the proliferation of electronic gadgets, readers still love the printed word. A printed marketing piece will enjoy a much longer shelf life than electronic communications. Customers come in with books checked and circled because you've made them think about books - and shopping locally.

Newsletter co-op for 2009 topped $7,500 per store - any bookstore (with direct publisher accounts), any size, selling new books. Since publishers hardly do anything at all to promote their books in your local community, they make co-op funds available to you to get the word out.

Blanket the right neighborhoods through newspaper inserts (as affordable as 6-7 cents per piece). If you've asked the newspaper to promote your events, they'll appreciate getting some extra business from you in return.

Think outreach marketing throughout the year. 

shopkeeper.

Even if you're not too crazy about the term "Mom & Pop," you have to agree that it resonates with most people... and brings back happy memories.

We loved Robert Spector's own story of learning retail in his father's butcher shop as he tells it in his new book, The Mom & Pop Store ($26, Walker & Company, 9780802716057). In fact, we've put this on the "must read" list for all of us who love... and live... retail. What Paco Underhill does for the science of retail, Spector does for the retail lifestyle: he honors those who hold up the U.S. economy while serving their communities.

You'll read about Judith Lafitte and Tom Lowenberg, owners of Octavia Books, and their story about returning to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. You'll also read about Dee and Chuck Robinson's history of bookselling at Village Books in Bellevue, Washington. How wonderful to see these stores as well as Politics & Prose mentioned with other shops that have endured over decades.

If you already own a bookstore, you'll find the stories of kindred spirits who also work long hours, ride the ups and downs, and still couldn't imagine doing anything else for a living.

If you are thinking of owning a bookstore and have never worked in retail, your dream will get a reality test. Read and imagine your life as a shopkeeper before you take the plunge.

From The Mom & Pop Store:

have a great season.

May all of your customers savor the time in your bookstore and find plenty of great books to enjoy and share with others!