Not waiting for the end-of-year list season, Amazon is highlight an eclectic selection of their “best books of 2009…so far.” The Top 10 overall comprise: Cheever: A Life by Blake BaileyLet the Great World Spin by Colum McCannFordlandia by Greg GrandinThe City & The City by China MievilleThe Forgotten Garden by Kate MortonBrooklyn by Colm ToibinThe Gamble by Thomas RicksSag Harbor by Colson Whiteheadand even Starbucks pick Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad, and one-time Borders “make book” The Lost City of Z by David Grann Separate lists offer top tens for fiction, nonfiction, children’s and “hidden gems.” And […]
Bookstores
Bookselling News: Praising Politics & Prose; Espresso Self-Publishing; Online Bookstore Dating; BN's App; and More
A number of interesting stories that first appeared in the PL Automat: – The Washington Post profiles the “doyennes” who “nurture” the “landmark” store Politics & Prose. And they look at the store’s p&l: “After paying $3.9 million for books, $1.6 million for payroll and covering the rest of their expenses, the store earned $73,000 last year. The co-owners split $173,000 in salary and bonus. Carla Cohen said a big mistake was trying to run the coffeehouse downstairs themselves. They sub-contract it out and earn $4,000 a month. The store’s Web site is not a big profit center, averaging 200 […]
Borders UK Moving Closer to Potential Sale
Retail Week reports that Borders UK, which had already appointed Clearwater Corporate Finance to “seek new funding”, has sent out an information memorandum to “selected private equity houses and trade buyers”. The opportunity may be there for Borders UK to broaden its scope, Retail Planet Analyst Paola Montealegre commented that the store’s potential plans “may not be enough to compete with new channels such as supermarkets and internet retailers.”Retail Week
People and Announcements
Borders continues the tradition of bolstering their executive team with people from outside of publishing. They have hired Arthur Keeney as svp of marketing, starting at the end of June, reporting to Anne Kubek. He was general manager for eight years at Harold Friedman, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based grocery store chain, and previously worked with Borders ceo Ron Marshall at grocer Nash Finch. Among the areas he will oversee is Borders.com, where he will run a search “for a new leader at the vice president level.” Rich Fahle is moving from that role to the new position of vp creative, outreach […]
Bunch of Grapes Ready to Reopen on Vineyard
The Bunch of Grapes bookstore will reopen on Saturday in Vineyard Haven (on Martha’s Vineyard), a joyous return after a fire last July 4th significantly damaged the store and its contents. New owner Dawn Braasch, who bought the business from Jon Nelson last October (and has a long-term lease from his mother and founder of the store Ann Nelson, who is also helping Braasch as a consultant), tells the local paper “not only are we serving the community, but the community has really served us. Over the years, people have been such good patrons, and without them, we wouldn’t be […]
Shaman Drum Gives Up the Fight to Survive; Wisconsin Store to Close After 113 Years
Owner of Ann Arbor bookstore Shaman Drum Karl Pohrt will close the store at the end of June. “I feel like I’ve had this charmed life to sell books in Ann Arbor for nearly 30 years,” he tells the Ann Arbor News (which will also close soon.) “That’s a good run.” The store’s site says, “On the advice of my accountant and my business manager, I am closing Shaman Drum Bookshop June 30. Despite a first rate staff, a fiercely loyal core of customers, a very decent landlord and my own commitment to the community of arts and letters in […]