New Booksellers

March 2006 retail sales at bookstores slipped almost four percent compared to March 2005, according to recent estimates from the Bureau of the Census. This marked the second month in a row that sales have failed to meet or beat the previous year's results. Bookstore sales in March were $1,040 million, down from $1,082 million in March 2005. Overall retail sales continued to outpace bookstore sales. In March 2006, overall retail sales were $367 billion, 7.6 percent better than the $341 billion reported in March 2005.

Keri Holmes moved from Winterset, Iowa, and opened The Kaleidoscope in Hampton on March 1, 2006, for a number of good reasons: She thought that residents having to drive over two hours for a good selection of books was unfair; she had observed what a successful independent bookstore entailed, as well as what it meant to the citizens of Winterset; and her sister and niece, business owners in Hampton, were nagging her to join them.

The American Booksellers Association will honor longtime South Carolina independent booksellers and community leaders Betty and Rhett Jackson with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Celebration of Bookselling at this year's BookExpo America. The award will be presented to the Jacksons by fellow South Carolinian, and longtime friend, author Pat Conroy. The Jacksons opened their bookstore, The Happy Bookseller, in 1975 in Columbia, South Carolina.

Already named one of the 25 best small towns in America, Jasper, Indiana, can now boast its own independent bookstore. Words of Wisdom, a general bookstore, owned by Michelle O'Connor, opened on November 11, 2005. As far back as O'Connor can remember, there hasn't been a bookstore in the southern Indiana town of 12,000. The local Wal-Mart sells books, but the nearest bookstore is an hour's drive away.

Retailing, specifically bookselling, is honorable and difficult work. Some might say it is not, however, on a par with saving lives or curing cancer. That's what makes Kathleen Jewell, owner of Wilmington, North Carolina's new store, Pomegranate Books such an intriguing addition to the bookselling community. She has a foot in both worlds.

This week, BookSense.com announced the launch of a redesigned BookSense.com search engine that is expected to significantly increase the relevancy of consumers' search results. "The new search has been improved in a number of ways and will provide more consistent results in terms of speed and stability," said BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos.

If new bookseller Karen Emmerling could go back in time and listen to three words of advice before launching her general bookstore, Beach Books, in the small coastal town of Seaside, Oregon, she would want someone to tell her, "Do more research." After being open for two months, she confessed, "There's an awful lot more to think about than I probably considered, not having had a background in retail or books." But despite the warp-speed learning process, "everything has really fallen into place," she said.

Cornerstone Books, a 3,000-square-foot bookstore/cafe in historic Salem, Massachusetts, celebrated its grand opening Wednesday with a visit from the town's mayor to cut the ribbon, an evening of live entertainment from the Squatcho Bondo Band of Gloucester, and food and drink for all. The store, owned by Gilbert Pili, managed by his brother Erik, with old friend Dan Johnson doing the buying, has long been a gleam in Pili's eye. But for many months, Cornerstone's opening was bedeviled by impediments of all sorts.

As part of a strong movement to revitalize downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, an independent bookstore and cafe opened on December 10 in the former Steketee's department store. River Bank Books & Music, owned by Debra Lambers of the Book Nook & Java Shop in Montague, Michigan, occupies about 10,000 of the 100,000 square feet of space in the eight-story landmark building, completed in 1917.