Winter Institute 7

The 2011 holiday season was a good one for booksellers reached by Bookselling This Week. December brought double-digit sales improvements to some, increased online sales to others, and the reversal of a negative trend to another. Buy Local campaigns continued to drive sales, “showrooming” was an issue at some stores, and social media marketing caught customer attention.

Bartleby’s Books [1] in Wilmington, Vermont, which was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Irene this past summer, finished the season with a 50 percent increase for December over last year. “Our marketing was really based around the fact that we were reopening,” said owner Lisa Sullivan. Neighborhood commitment to shopping local helped. “We heard many customers say they were spending their money locally. We also inserted the NEIBA catalog in the local paper with a coupon for purchases over $50 and we had a number of people bring it in.”