Independent Bookstores Get Creative to Survive the Long Lockdown

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- After several days of hunkering down at home in late March, this reporter decided it was time to seek out a few literary diversions to keep the coronavirus blues at bay—some novels for myself, mysteries for my 13-year-old, a nonfiction thriller for a friend’s birthday. Learning that Walden Pond Books, my favorite independent bookstore in Oakland, Calif., was closed but still taking orders for pickup, I phoned in my list and rode my bike to the normally laid-back shop. On the door was a very unmellow admonition: a cardboard sign blaring “DO NOT TOUCH DOOR HANDLE!!”

After putting on yellow rubber kitchen gloves, I knocked on the window, then stood several feet back. Soon a lone employee wearing a mask cracked open the door and asked for my name. I whispered it. A few minutes later, he reappeared carrying a brown paper bag and handed over the sanitized goods. Before taking it, I looked furtively around, half expecting to see cops.

“Two-thirds of my staff is laid off right now,” says Paul Curatolo, Walden Pond’s co-owner and manager, explaining the reason behind the shop’s speakeasy-like pickup strategy. “I can’t pay them for work I don’t have. But for every day that we’re closed, we are getting more phone calls.”

With much of the nation under strict stay-at-home orders, independent bookstores—which rely largely on foot traffic, browsing, and impulse buying—are struggling like never before. Amazon .com Inc. has long dominated book sales, and many independent shops are Luddite operations that lack robust websites, much less e-commerce operations.

To survive, they’ve had to get inventive in a hurry. Like Walden Pond, many are taking orders over the phone, then providing curbside pickup similar to the virus-impacted restaurants operating carryout only. Wheatberry Books in Chillicothe, Ohio, has launched a virtual storytime for children. Magic City Books in Tulsa is shipping curated “literary care packages” and announced a series of virtual author events. And scores of others, including Taylor Books in Charleston, W.Va., are turning to fundraisers via GoFundMe to stay afloat.

While the number of independent shops in the U.S. belonging to the American Booksellers Association is now more than 1,800, up from about 1,400 in 2009, the business is often fragile even in the best of times. Now the trade group warns that the Covid-19 crisis has put some of its members in grave danger, and many have embraced e-commerce in a bid to weather the long shutdowns.

“There’s been a drop in overall book sales as most bookstores are closed to the public right now, except for deliveries and curbside pickup, but a significant increase in online sales,” says Allison K Hill, chief executive officer of the booksellers’ association. “The online sales aren’t very profitable, though, as the cost to manage them is high and the margin is thin. Many independent bookstores will be dependent on government relief, fundraising, and support from their communities to survive.”

Many independent shops don’t have the staff, or the bandwidth, to constantly update websites, much less manage the inventory, shipping, and customer-service challenges that an e-commerce expansion brings. That’s where Bookshop LLC, which launched in late January, comes in. Independent bookstores can create an online store via Bookshop’s platform. Bookshop contracts directly with Ingram Content Group, the largest book wholesaler in the U.S., to ship books directly to consumers. More than 500 stores have signed onto the platform, and independents have already received more than $833,000 from profits on sales on the site since its launch.

“The conventional wisdom is that if you try to beat Amazon, you’re doomed,” says Andy Hunter, Bookshop’s CEO. “But there are consumers who want to support local businesses, and we can compete with Amazon on shipping times and inventory.”

The Strand, a fixture of Manhattan’s independent book scene, also has tried to maintain connections with its fans by starting a book club on the web—The Stranded—with a focus on novels that people may have at home. The first pick was Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; about 145 people discussed the book on The Stranded Book Club site on Goodreads, a review and social cataloging website owned by Amazon.

James Odom, the Strand’s communication director, says the coronavirus crisis has been the most difficult in the company’s 93-year-history. After surviving the Great Depression and Sept. 11, it’s had to temporarily lay off almost 200 employees. Just a dozen remain on the payroll, and owner Nancy Bass Wyden isn’t taking a salary. “Our focus is figuring out ways to pick up revenue so we can start hiring people back as soon as possible,” says Odom. “Right now the only way we can bring in revenue is by customers purchasing gift cards.”

While it’s uncertain how many independent shops will survive the lockdown, some have already seen strong support from their local communities. Walden Pond exceeded its $100,000 goal via a GoFundMe campaign. But the long-term solution is developing ways to expand independents’ reach.

“We have a lot of bookstores in smaller communities that scratch it out month to month and year to year,” says Brian Juenemann, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association in Eugene, Ore. “Now everyone is figuring out how to sell books online. If we can put the focus back on supporting local businesses, that will be a silver lining.”
 
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