Bugs, Scraps, and Fetch Toys: More Notes From the Sidelines

Whether it's a jumping bug, a chalkboard T-shirt, or a Lucha Libre Thumb Wrestling Mask, sidelines sell, lend themselves to displays, and have healthy margins. The trick is separating the dross from what thou sellest well. Here BTW presents a quick list of gifts culled by regional director Wanda Jewell and booksellers Christine Onorati from WORD in Brooklyn and Aeri Swendson from Green Apple Books in San Francisco.

Chalkboard T-shirts

Merchandise buyers should bookmark Wanda Jewell's "Gifts Galore for Bookstores." The more than 200 sideline picks comprise "the best darn gift list in the world," said Jewell, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance executive director. Recommendations include chalkboard T-shirts. The T-shirts are available for kids and adults, have a little pocket for chalk, and come with a Chalkboard T-specific eraser. Jewell also likes Rubberbone Press' book-shaped squeaky dog toys. The line includes classics like To Kill a Mocking Squirrel and Fetch-22. Titles have removable jackets and blurbs from "Barkpage Rrreview" and "Entertainmutt Weekly." For a lower price point, the $5 Nino the Jumping Bug, is "adorable and priced right."

Rubberbone Press' dog toys

WORD in Brooklyn shared some of its latest crop of top selling gifts. Christine Onorati said that staff loves the "bright, easy to carry, reusable" Baggu Bags."They retail for $8, and we sell a ton of them. We just started carrying the multi-bag kits, which have five mixed color bags in one big pouch. Perfect for the farmers market visit that every Brooklynite loves to make each weekend." 

Onorati also likes Beacon Bookmarks, created out of wood scraps. The owner of the company makes the bookmarks out of wood scraps from her partner's cabinet-making business. "I recently had a bunch printed with our WORD logo, and they are selling really well!" said Onorati. Her other tips include OplusD stationery, whose offensive, but delightful sayings "might not be for everyone, but we sell them like crazy" and Make My Notebook, "silkscreened basic notebooks that are really lovely and come in a million variations of color and design."

The blog of Green Apple Books in San Francisco dispels the myth that serious bookstores don't sell gift items: "We're a bookstore. A real bookstore: cramped aisles, creaky stairs, oddball sections. We use just about every available square inch to offer the widest and most carefully chosen selection of books.... But we like some other stuff, too. Like movies and music, canvas bags, and magazines."

Some of the stuff Green Apple likes, said Aeri Swendson, merchandise buyer, is the Bottle 'Biner from Fred. He calls it a "great combination of smart design and functionality in a carabiner/bottle opener/corkscrew." Swendon added, "Although it may seem out of place in a bookstore, it's a product that appeals to the key-carrying masses." Staffers at Green Apple also like the Lucha Libre Thumb Wrestling Masks. "Silly, weird and fun," said Swendon. "The colorful masks come in pairs for each thumb. Perfect for car rides, plane trips or just whenever you feel like duking it out, on the safer side."

For more sidelines, check out BTW's past articles on eco totes and environmentally friendly gift ideas. --Karen Schechner