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Post by En on Apr 14, 2004 11:56:48 GMT -5
Hm. You know, George Whitman's motto (as in the owner of Shakespeare and Company in Paris) is never turn anyone away; you don't know who might be an angel in disguise.
Besides, serious regulars who are there a lot might become someone our other clients might come to visit, especially if they've led interesting lives, which it seems most people have
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Post by En on Jul 29, 2004 14:29:08 GMT -5
Gang... so... this isn't hypothetical anymore.I'M BUYING A BOOKSTORE.There are financial details to work out... but it's actually happening. I have a lender waiting for Schedule C numbers and a couple of possible angel loans, and enough money to put into it that I could survive even if I have to finance all the rest.
So... I'm going to start working on a real webpage for it (the one it has right now doesn't have very much in) and I need to work out which sections are selling best and what my policies will be. I have some stuff in mind, but I'm also open to suggestions / brainstorming sessions / stuff like that.
Oh, and just something to keep in mind, I may need a person or two summer help next year... Just think about it
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Post by d on Jul 29, 2004 14:32:19 GMT -5
If I lived anywhere in your vicinity I would volunteer my services
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Calavera Diablos
Ravenclaw Alumni
Draws grown men wearing underpants outside their trousers
Posts: 1,547
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Post by Calavera Diablos on Jul 29, 2004 15:01:17 GMT -5
*gape* No kidding? Very very cool, En. Have you figured out a name yet? My father is teaching me how to make signs so I can make wooden name plaques for the horse stalls. If you relay the design to me, I could make one of those hanging signs with the carved old script letters with a mascot or similar trademark image you'd like for the place.
Lol, depending on how well Fall term and my transfer goes (and money for travelling) I might pop on by to help you with Calantha's suggestion- The wall murals?
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Post by En on Jul 29, 2004 15:43:59 GMT -5
Actually, I was kind of thinking... since the current owner's sister hangs her artwork in the shop for sale... I could do something like that too. A friend of mine will be teaching art at Coe College this autumn, so I thought I'd hit him up for art to sell out of the shop, but do you know anyone else who'd be interested, Cally? Also, I would need some help decorating the storeroom, which I mean to open up and make into more shelving and a reading area.
The shop already has a name I intend to keep - it's been around for about 25 years, so name recognition does count for something - plus it's a cool name I'll pm it to you. But yeah, if you - actually I specifically thought of you, Willow, Sphi and Chris when I was brainstorming the other night - wanted to help come up with graphics for bookmarks or signage (and I really like that old-fashioned-type idea, a lot), or signs for different sections... I'd be very interested. Interested enough to allocate some of the advert budget for your services, depending on what we'd come up with and what kind of supplies you'd need and stuff...?
And of course you'd be welcome there. All the TD regulars would be, anytime, maybe even for a bit of a stay
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Post by Sphi on Jul 29, 2004 17:27:06 GMT -5
Seriously?! I'm so happy for you, En! Is the store around the same area? Because I would honestly love to spend a summer there someday...or visit, for the very least. *smile* And I'd be more than happy to help out with artwork or decorating or...anything, really. Do you need something in particular at the moment?
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Post by hermoine on Jul 30, 2004 8:03:16 GMT -5
Oh you must be jumping over the books for sure En. Imagine how cool it would be to enter the shop, and come face to face with you, and like ask you something, and you are ever so eager to help!
I fear there's not much I can do.
This rotting island is going to give me a breakdown I swear!
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fico the fur
Hufflepuff Alumni
Why'd you say "halleluia" if it means nothin' to ya'?
Posts: 964
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Post by fico the fur on Aug 12, 2004 23:33:40 GMT -5
So I was talking to Dr.Denim a couple days ago, trying to figure out how to get to school a week earlier than I was supposed to, since Chandra wants to be picked up on the 16th. He mentioned a note from you, Nialle, and asked me if it was true you were going to buy a bookstore. So yeah, after a little confirmation from my end, he said the w.c. would have to barge down there for a day-trip or something. I thought that might turn into a pretty nifty function, if you wanted. If you were going to do something with people's writing, we could maybe combine it with the w.c. Dunno if that would be a bit much, though. But I'm sure not everyone from the w.c. will be game, since some are decidedly geekier than others...
Also, I happen to know that a certain Pennsylvania resident is planning on hanging out at school next summer. Besides, he was hoping to learn a lot more about the university town... And he doesn't take up much space, either.
I really like the idea of having an open mic, or having people (really unknown ones) coming to play. Would it be a good idea to get cd's that people who've played there have made, or do you think that would deplete funds more than add to them? For myself, I always think it's awesome when places sell less-known music, but I almost never buy them, mainly because my personal funds are usually monetarily insecure.
Along with the idea of different designs for different rooms, you could develope a few different bookmarks. I always love going to a place and collecting a few in a series. So if you had a bookmark designed in echoes of all the different sections, that might be cool.
I dunno. Are you looking for ideas that will get people to go to the store, or ones that will keep people coming back, or ones that just make it an all-encompassingly lovable place? (Predicted answer: Uh, D, all of the above?)
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Post by guinevere on Aug 13, 2004 0:47:15 GMT -5
I am so jealous I could spit...congrats to you and your new venture! What sort of books--used, new? Does the store have a theme )dealing in mysteries, SF? more info, please--this is just great!
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Post by Sphi on Aug 13, 2004 2:50:46 GMT -5
Along with the idea of different designs for different rooms, you could develope a few different bookmarks. I always love going to a place and collecting a few in a series. So if you had a bookmark designed in echoes of all the different sections, that might be cool. Oooh, can I do that?! I could design a couple bookmarks for you if you tell what sections there are. ...Not sure why, but I really want to be a part of this whole experience. Seriously, it seems like most of TD is excited along with you, En, even though most of us will probably never get to see the place. That's okay, though. This is a big thing for all of us!
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Post by En on Sept 9, 2004 12:10:55 GMT -5
So the sale is final today ;D I got my federal ID number, sales tax permit, and credit card machine lined up....
It's an insane amount of work, but I love it. And it's not like I don't have help - a bunch of my friends have put in quite a few hours cleaning, shelving, moving things - I can't thank them enough, especially Lumers, who has been here several Saturdays and after school a bunch of times.
Sphi - and Zeph, if you can get to the States *crosses fingers* - and guin and everybody - you are absolutely welcome to visit. The shop is in a medium-sized college town, so there's loads to see and do, and hopefully I'll be able to offer some space for you to stay before too long.
About open mics: I probably won't start organising them until October, when I'm settled in a bit and have had *counts* three Sundays to do the major renovations But I'll ask people what nights would be best, and then I'll make posters, and we'll start. Selling CD's would require more of an investment on my part than I think I'm ready for, but artists would be welcome to sell their CD's out of my shop when they played and could leave some for sale on consignment, kind of like at [Sun] & [Moon]'s.
The only drawback to multiple bookmarks would be printing costs But I'm definitely interested in having a new logo, which would go on the (first?) new bookmark. The store's current logo is extremely complicated - it's a woodcut of a guy in a bathrobe getting a book off a high shelf, with the name of the store written around it in what is, imho, an extremely boring font (not quite Times New Roman, but close). I'd rather have a logo that is relatively simple, so that I could have a little and a big rubber stamp made up - but something that looks good with the name of the shop, too. I have an idea of what I want, but it's still pretty vague (I'll pm you about it if someone want to give it a go)....
In answer to Gen's last: yep, D, all of the above
to guin: ;D It's almost all used books, and there isn't really a specialty right now, but I'm working on spiffing up the YA fic, literature and SF/Fantasy sections, as well as philosophy, theatre and poetry. There's a lot of nonfic here too, but there's an excellent humanities-books store in town already, so I will probably focus on nonfic that fits with my upper-end-fiction focus - travel narratives, narrative history, literary criticism, literary bio, stuff like that. You should also know that the store takes up the cellar and ground floor of a Victorian house, about eight rooms of which are currently finished with bookshelves - three of those with hardwood floors - and I have the most beautiful faux-marble fireplace right across from the counter where I'm sitting
Ee! I have a bunch of boxes to get through before the shindig I'm throwing tomorrow - so I'd better get back to work - but dude, Sphi and everyone else, you are welcome to take as much part in this as you want, or to pitch ideas, or come visit, or anything. Yay! ;D
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Post by Nie on Sept 9, 2004 12:25:20 GMT -5
En, the first oppurtunity I get I'm on a plane to Iowa to check out some of the funky stuff you have in that bookstore of yours. Admittedly it might be a while, but I'll make it there somehow. And I'll probably try to bring Shultz along as well. He really wants to meet you.
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Post by hermoine on Sept 9, 2004 12:27:45 GMT -5
Be sure of seeing me someday for a guy who called En on TD2. I've already got a friend of mine psyched up to come with me to America one day.
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Post by En on Dec 29, 2004 16:10:34 GMT -5
Oi! Things are going pretty well here at the shop... it's been nearly four months, though it seems like both a lot less and ages more than that.
One of the things I'm doing now is really-random 10% sales. Like 10% off books with the word 'snow' somewhere on the wraps/jacket, or 10% off books with pictures of barns in them somewhere, or 10% off books with characters named "Claire." Today's special is 10% off books with pictures of horses on the wraps/jacket.
Here's the thing: I need a new idea every day. The "Claire" one turned out to be too hard (maybe I need to pick a more common name ) - and until it catches on, I probably need to keep it fairly easy (like horses on the cover). So... any of you lot have any ideas? Keep in mind that only about 10% of my customers are under 18, and only 10% are over 60; my three biggest-selling sections are literature, eastern religion/philosophy, and Iowa-related titles (but I have about 50 different sections); and it's got to be kind of short so that I can fit it all on my marker-board
Oh, I should also tell you that the same rule would apply to you as to my customers - if you come up with an idea, and I use it, and I sell over $100 in books due to the sale, you win a $10 gift certificate to my shop
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Post by KoNeko on Jan 5, 2005 8:55:34 GMT -5
Hmmm, how about something with more wider applications, like author's name starting with a particular letter, or books published in a particular decade, or something? Hmmm, or I don't know, books (fiction and nonfiction) involving something to do with monkeys (so books about bananas would also apply or something). I don't know, but this is a pretty cool (and generous!) idea.
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