North Jersey bookstores write new chapters into their business models
MONDAY JANUARY 13, 2014, 6:40 AM
BY ANDREW WYRICH
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
* Owners diversify to stay competitive
To combat intensifying competition from technology-based rivals, North Jersey independent bookstore owners are writing new chapters into their business models by hosting author events, offering tech-driven reading options and providing consulting services for school districts.
The introduction of e-readers, tablets, websites such as Amazon.com and large wholesale stores selling steeply discounted books has increased competition for independent bookstores over the last decade, forcing remaining book vendors to look for new ways to add to their bottom line.
“Bookstores need to study their past and analyze it thoroughly,” said Mary L. Brown, the owner of Books Bytes & Beyond in Glen Rock. “We asked ourselves how we could service the people we are close with better.”
Bookends, an independent bookseller that has been in downtown Ridgewood for 30 years, moved from its original location in 2010 to lower its rent and focus on hosting author events to boost revenue.
“Our author events are typically attended by 50 to 2,000 people, depending on who the author is,” said Bookends co-owner Walter Boyer, whose wife, Pat, books the authors.
Boyer said Bookends hosts up to 100 author events a year and the money earned from customers buying signed copies of the books makes up one-third of the store’s yearly revenue.
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