Danner's Books: Muncie's Independent Bookstore

Susan Danner, owner of Danner's Books in Muncie, Indiana, noted with a laugh that her store was only open a week before it moved. That's because, Danner explained, in 1995, she purchased the bookstore from a friend with the understanding that the travel agent next door would be expanding into the space occupied by the bookstore. As a result, the bookstore would have to move down a door. In the eight years since that time, Danner's has moved twice more, and not because someone else was expanding, but because Danner's Books was: It doubled its size to 2,000 square feet in 1997 and then moved and expanded to 6,000 square feet in 2001. Regarding the last move, Danner declared, "I have no intentions of moving again!"

Danner's Books began as The Book End in 1975 and was owned by a friend of Danner's. When her friend's husband decided to retire in 1995, Danner was offered the opportunity to buy the store -- which she did, and changed the name to Danner's Books. And while Danner had faith in the store, she had less faith in downtown Muncie. "[The downtown area] had already disintegrated [by 1995]," she said. On Labor Day 1997, "we moved to a strip mall in the suburbs on the west end of town, in the area near the university" and expanded to 2,000 square feet.

Danner's Books' last move came on April Fool's Day 2001, Danner said, when the store moved into a free-standing building just 500 feet from the strip mall, now closer to the street. Moreover, the actual move to the new space clearly showed how important and central an independent can be to its community, when 300 people, customers and friends, showed up to help the bookstore move. "We formed a 'Book Brigade,'" Danner said, and explained that a line of people was formed from the old location to the new location, and books passed from person to person. "We moved the entire inventory in less than two hours," she noted. "It was fun. Then we went back to the old store and had food. I had the party there because I didn't want to get the new store dirty."

When the 6,000-square-foot location opened, the store had a coffee shop, said Danner. However, she recently decided to close it. "Coffee [shops were] all the rage in 2001, but it just didn't produce the way we thought it would," she said. Instead, she has converted that 600-square-foot space into a gift shop, which officially opened on November 14. "We put all the gift-type items into that area and the rest of the store is devoted to books. The gift shop is wonderful; not having a coffee shop is wonderful -- there are no more health regulations to worry about." And, importantly, now that there's no coffee shop, Danner's cat, Leaf, is free to roam wherever it wants.

The ribbon cutting ceremony with the Muncie, Indiana Chamber of Commerce at MOTH, Danner's Books new gift shop. (Owner Susan Danner is at right.)

For the gift shop's grand opening, which was publicized in the store's newsletter sent to 2,700 customers, the Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony that was covered in the Sunday, November 15, edition of the local newspaper, Danner said. She stressed that her membership and participation in the Muncie Chamber of Commerce is extremely significant as the Commerce almost acts like a local, independent business alliance does in other towns. "You'll get a lot of free publicity when you work with the Chamber of Commerce," she said. "We're members, and we try to participate in their events. We pay our dues and try to buy from members [all of who are local business owners]. I say, 'You buy locally and people will buy locally from you.'" Danner added that she also belongs to a women's service organization, similar to a men's rotary club, comprised of about 100 professional women. "I call it my 'old girl's network,'" Danner explained.

Fortunately for Danner's, the store does not have to contend with competition from chain bookstores. "Border's was going to come to town, but it didn't," she said. "Bookland is in a mall, but they are as far away as you can get and be in the same county." At present, Danner's is the only independent in Muncie. "The biggest competition comes from stores like Target and Wal-Mart" and other discounters, she said.

One of the ways that Danner's Books competes is through Book Sense. "We joined the day it started," Danner said. "I thought it was a great idea." Danner noted how hardware stores have a similar branding effort. "I knew it would work because it worked for them…. It is a way for us all to be together." She mentioned how happy she was when the gift certificates first came out, as well as the Book Sense 76. "It gave customers the feeling like they and we were part of a larger identity, but at the same time, we were unique. We really push that to our customers: Shop at independents." She noted that she maintains a Book Sense 76 display in the store and a category bestseller display near the front of the store.

Danner added that she is planning on moving to the gift card program. "Now that they lowered the minimum order to 100 [from 250]…. I think we're going to do it." --David Grogan