Opening or Buying a Bookstore: Changes & Opportunities

There are distinct opportunities for start-ups in bookselling. Learn about them at the workshop retreat “Owning a Bookstore: The Business Essentials,” which will take place September 12 - 16 on Amelia Island (near Jacksonville, Florida).

There are distinct opportunities for start-ups in bookselling. Like Nashville, many communities around the country have lost, or will lose, their only bookstores as a result of the closing of hundreds of Borders locations and smaller Waldenbooks mall stores. And, while e-books have gained popularity, independent booksellers can now stake a claim in the  e-book marketplace, thanks to ABA’s partnership with Google eBooks™.

Retail bookselling is a unique business that demands attention to many different aspects of the start-up process and ongoing operations. Long-term sustainability requires that owners capitalize on a bricks-and-mortar store’s competitive advantages, understand how the industry works, and be able to add entrepreneurial energy and creativity. As with any new career, training is a critical part of preparation, but it takes on added importance with a lower-margin business like bookselling.

The workshop retreat “Owning a Bookstore: The Business Essentials” will take place September 12 - 16 on Amelia Island (near Jacksonville, Florida). The week will include key topics such as strategies for making a profit in retail bookselling, best practices for driving sales, achieving efficiencies with a computerized management system, creating a magical sense of place with store design and merchandising, buying and managing inventory, and much more. 

Co-sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the workshop is offered in spring and fall each year and is facilitated by Donna Paz Kaufman and Mark Kaufman of The Bookstore Training Group of Paz & Associates. ABA members are eligible for up to a $200 discount on tuition. For details, visit PazBookBiz.com [1] or call (800) 260-8605.