Why Green Apple is still in business and how you can keep it that way
Times are indeed tough for independent businesses of all ilk. From restaurants and video stores to cafes and bookstores, locally owned businesses are facing constant and escalating threats from internet retailers and chain stores. There are many hidden costs to shopping at chains or online--avoiding sales tax when shopping online, for example, leads to reduced government resources for roads, schools, public safety, etc. And patronizing chain stores leads to reduced choices in the marketplace. While many good books have been written on the subject, this PDF points out the basic economic benefits of shopping at locally owned stores instead of faceless chains or online retailers. We think most of our customers understand this, and this is part of the reason we're still open--you would rather deal with Clement Street parking to preserve Green Apple as an option than see it go away. You would rather pay the sales tax than lose the ability to buy a unique gift at the last minute (instead of waiting for it to be shipped by Amazon or the like). You would rather physically browse a well chosen selection of the best books published today and old gems than sit at your computer for yet another hour sifting the through the recommendations of Bookgrrrrl (UT) and Biblioboy (NC). Beyond this customer loyalty (for which we are grateful), we have several things going for us: the original owner of the store was wise enough to go deep into debt to buy the building, so our lease is reasonable and secure. Our staff is excellent--dedicated book-lovers who put their egos, ambition, and sometimes their PhDs aside to work in this unique environment. And we're in San Francisco, the city with the highest spending on books (and booze) per capita in the US of A. Finally, the store is in the hands of three dedicated owners who have collectively been at Green Apple for over 50 years. We live and play in the city, send our kids to public school here, and care deeply about keeping this institution, and other locally owned businesses, thriving. Oh, and Green Apple is just a good store--but I'm preaching to the choir now. . . . If you're still reading and you're feeling the love, read on for ten things you can do to help keep Green Apple thriving. And please, by all means, try to choose locally owned independent businesses first for any purchase you may make, no matter how big or small. Sure, sometimes, you have to hit Walgreens for a prescription. And sometimes that new digital camera you want is just $100 cheaper online and you can't spend the extra $100. Just shop local first. Ten ways to keep Green Apple thriving (aside from buying more books): - PAY CASH--the seemingly minimal charges we accrue from credit card companies add up to more than than the average profit margin of a profitable independent bookstore!
- BRING A FRIEND--have company? Show off your favorite funky shop and treat them to a Clement Street meal: it's REAL San Francisco.
- SKIP THE BAG--if even half our customers brought their own bag or skipped them altogether, we'd save thousands of dollars a year!
- BUY A GIFT CARD--it's a flexible gift that gets our store into your friend's wallet.
- YELP about us or vote for Green Apple in the "Best of SF" contests!--such free publicity is invaluable word-of-mouth advertising.
- BUY A T-SHIRT: wearing stylish Green Apple garb will not only get you dates, it may even enlighten those booklovers who have not yet heard of us (yes, there are some).
- THANK A GREEN APPLER--if you love a book we recommended, find the staff member who suggested it and thank her/him (or leave her/him a note)! We love talking books and want to know when we get one right!
- FORWARD THIS EMAIL--it'll help show others why you love Green Apple.
- ATTEND AN EVENT-- publishers and authors think more highly of us (and thus grant us more and better authors) when we draw a big crowd or sell a lot of books at our book-related events.
- RECRUIT other locally owned businesses to join SFLOMA--it's only $25 and once enough stores join, it'll be a great network of indies.
Whether you do any of these things or none, we appreciate every purchase made here. Thank you for reading!
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Please call us if we can help you with anything, and help spread the word about Green Apple by forwarding this to any friends who may enjoy it. Thanks again for reading.
415-387-2272 |
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Greetings!
When the last branch of Cody's Books in Berkeley closed last month, we fielded many concerned inquiries about the viability of Green Apple. Other independents closed recently, too, though they got less ink: The Graduate Theological Bookstore in Berkeley; Dutton's in Brentwood; and Abandoned Planet on Valencia. The short answer to the inquiries is that thanks to loyal customers like you, we are still on solid ground. The longer answer is in the left column of this month's missive should you care to know how and/or why we're OK at this time, and how you can help keep it that way. We try to appeal to you as an excellent store, not as a charity case, but there are reasons a little below the surface why keeping stores like Green Apple thriving benefits you and your community, should you care to know. Thanks for the concerned calls, and read on for more good news from Green Apple. Better yet, forward this to a fellow booklover and share the good Green Apple news! Here, in short, are the many goodies in this edition: - Our July Book of the Month (including a link to our first YouTube spot--should we let the Sunday night crew do this again?)
- New book releases we find promising
- Book recommendations from two splendid authors
- Freshly arrived sale books
- Two fun author events
- Used book news (hint: cheap beach reads)
- Our first Book Group: The Anti-Oedipus Book Group!
- Why Green Apple is OK and How you Can Keep it That Way
Thanks for reading and for all your support. |
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July's Book of the Month!
On an almost monthly basis, we present to you a brand-new book that we're excited about. Really excited about: we guarantee it 100% or your money back. Here's our sixth of 2008, Rivka Galchen's new novel Atmospheric Disturbances. Stephen explains: "Rivka Galchen has written about the Many Worlds theory for The Believer, quantum physics for Scientific American, and with Atmospheric Disturbances, an astonishingly convincing, equal parts uproarious and subtle novel about the vagaries of the weather and the human heart. "The catalyst of the novel is Dr. Leo Liebenstein, a psychiatrist convinced that his wife has been replaced by an imposter - a very convincing imposter, but a fake nonetheless. His firm insistence on this unshakable belief leads him on a disorienting, quixotic journey to the literal ends of the earth - a journey filled with cookies, doppelgangers (or, "dopplergangers" as they are called in the novel), dead men, and a succession of narrow escapes. On top of that, Leo has the secretly-waged battle over the fate of the weather to take into account. "Like all great novels, Atmospheric Disturbances can be traced through several literary lineages, most obviously the sort of playful postmodernism epitomized by the work of Borges, Murakami and Pynchon, but also (as preeminent literary critic James Wood wrote in his fine review in the New Yorker) that of the singular narrative voices found in Knut Hamsun's Hunger and in the works of the oddly affecting Austrian cult writer Thomas Bernhard. " This is the best novel I have read in a long time and, to sound regrettably like a publisher's blurb, the promising beginning of a literary career." Stephen Sparks Click here to buy the book or here to see on YouTube what the Sunday night crew did when asked to make an ad for our Book of the Month. |
New Book Releases!
We get worthy new books all the time, and it's always tough to choose a select few to present here--so many books, so little time, right? Said truism notwithstanding, here's July's attempt to lure you into the store (or you can always buy them online from us, of course): a fascinating photography book by Gregory Crewdson, a Great American Novel from (former Richmond district resident) Ethan Canin, a breathtaking collection of short stories, a riveting narrative of the James family, and a fascinating book on place names. View longer blurbs HERE. Also be sure to see our Book of the Month (above) and book recommendations by the author of the Book of the Month (Rivka Galchen) and by Ethan Canin (below).
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Featured Authors recommend
Two gifted authors have been generous enough to share with us their book recommendations: Ethan Canin (whose epic America America is featured above) and Rivka Galchen (whose Atmospheric Disturbances is our July Book of the Month). Here are their contributions to our "Staff Favorites" display.
Mr. Canin is gaga over Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth: "I like my masterpieces straight up. It's 640 pages without a literary trick. No experimentation
with prose. No stream of consciousness. Just page after page of the most harrowing and vivid writing about the sea and the ship and the animalistic brutality of man upon man." CLICK HERE to read the rest of his recommendation.
Ms. Galchen is nuts about Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe: "his meticulously realistic detailing of this not-quite-real world illuminates a sublime horror." CLICK HERE to read her "shelf-talker." |
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Fresh sale books
 We're just now receiving fresh remainders from a summer trade show: they're as-new books that cost even less than used copies. Here are a few to tempt you into the store: a witty novel and a spooky one, two fine kids' books, a writer's guide to our fair city, a guide to America as seen from a plane, and THE book on the American circus. See them all HERE. |
Author Event #1: Litquake benefit July 12
Litquake (in October) is the coolest book hootenanny in the country, we think, an only-in-San-Francisco literary shindig:a week of readings, performances, parties and so on, all celebrating books and the written word. It takes some money to put on and publicize such an event, and here's your chance to swap $10 (or more) for a funny evening of performances and readings by some of the city's most entertaining writers, like Beth Lisick, Jack Boulware, Alan Black, Bucky Sinister, Eddie Muller, and more. The evening's theme (we're not sure why, but we like it anyway) is "F*ck Sports."
F*ck Sports Litquake Benefit: Saturday, July 12 at 9:00 p.m. at the Edinburgh Castle (a fine pub at 950 Geary @ Polk). More info HERE.
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Author Event #2:
T.J. English on July 29
Rich in historic detail and as gripping as the finest potboiler, Havana Nocturne focuses on the diverging paths that three groups took during the late
1940's and throughout 50's, and the toll taken on the Pearl of the
Antilles: Cuba. English, author of Paddy Whacked and The Westies has made quite a name for himself as a modern authority of organized crime, and in Havana Nocturne,
English turns his expert eye on Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano and Santo
Trafficante while they boosted Batista back to power and made their
millions by opening grand casinos all along the Malecon. Things were
swinging in Havana, at least until a small group of bearded rebels led
by Fidel, Raul and Che began the movement that kicked-out the bad guys,
and gave birth to a revolution. With appearances by Kennedy
and Sinatra, Havana Nocturne is an absolute corker, and guaranteed to keep you turning pages at the rate of a driving samba beat.
T.J. English will be reading from, and signing copies of, Havana Nocturne
at G-Bar, so slide on by this swanky lounge for a solid dose of
entertainment, Mojito specials, and even an original photography show
of modern Cuban life.
DETAILS:
Tuesday, July 29th 6:30PM - 8:00PM
Laurel Inn's G-Bar 444 Presidio Ave (at California)
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Anti-Oedipus Book Group
Join us for a discussion of the first title of Green Apple's
reading group: Anti-Oedipus by philosopher Gilles Deleuze and
psychoanalyst Felix Guattari.
Published in 1972, Anti-Oedipus offers a reconceptualization
of both the approaches to as well as the vocabulary of contemporary
psychoanalytic and philosophic thought..
Predicated upon the rejection of the Freudian Oedipal triangle
("mommy-daddy-me"), Deleuze and Guattari introduce
schizoanalysis, their new conceptual apparatus that attempts to
account for affective forces beyond the psychoanalytic familial bond: the
deterritorialization and reterritorialization of flows, analysis of
the social production of desire beyond psychic fantasy, and the
structure of capitalism itself.
The group will meet on a bi-weekly basis at the Bitter End on Clement
Street between 5th and 6th Avenues at 7pm, beginning in August. To participate or learn more, contact Stephen Sparks (sparks@greenapplebooks.com) or call him at the store for more information. (415-387-2272) |
Used book temptations-- beach reads!
If you are pleased by the sunshine but lacking in bound
entertainment, Green Apple has some books for you!
With tens of thousands of USED FICTION titles on our shelves, now
is the perfect time to catch up on your summer reads, and save
a few bucks. On a quick perusal of our literature shelves this
morning, I was thrilled to see multiple back issues of McSweeney's
(including the rare box #4), an entire shelf of Don DeLillo's work
(every title in stock), tons of Kerouac, and even a handful of used
Haruki Murakami. But hold on to your visor, folks, because we also
have featured titles, at bargain rates, where nothing is more than 1/2
cover price. And they're good books, too, not crap we're trying to get rid of: titles like Hosseini's smash A Thousand Splendid Suns, Lahiri's Namesake, Raban's terrific Surveillance, and even first editions of John Updike's recent Terrorist, a steal at $8.00.
Good stuff indeed, and much more like it, in the used litereature Annex of Green Apple Books and Music.
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