New Booksellers Benefit From Time Spent at School

Over a dozen prospective booksellers, including five accountants and several people with MBA degrees, participated in the most recent "Opening a Bookstore" workshop run by Donna Paz and Mark Kaufman of Paz & Associates. The program was held from September 23 through September 28, in Oak Park, Illinois, in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association fall trade show.

Kaufman told BTW that several attendees were close to opening their stores, and all of the participants were very serious and eager to learn about bookselling. All but two of the prospective stores are currently provisional members of the American Booksellers Association.

Kaufman said the number of accountants in the September workshop group was a surprise. "Every group is unique; we've had lawyers, doctors, and IT (information technology) professionals, but all these accountants -- that's a first," he explained. "It appears that people of a certain age start thinking, 'I've succeeded in my career but I want to rethink my dreams and decide what I really want to do for the rest of my life.'"

Workshop participant Barbara Thomas of League City, Texas, who has run her own accounting business for the past 12 years, is in the process of negotiating a lease for a 2,100-square-foot space for a bookstore/cafe.

"We are still several months away [from opening]" Thomas said. "It's a challenge, taking care of all that needs to be done in preparation for opening the bookstore/cafe. The Paz workshop introduced me to wholesalers, suppliers, point-of-sale solutions, and a wonderful group of people in the same state of excitement about owning a bookstore."

Cindy Rushton of Fishers, Indiana, a CPA and bank accounting manager, told BTW that 20 years ago she entertained the idea of opening a children's bookstore and prepared a business plan. "I attended an ABA trade show in Las Vegas in 1992, and I did several book fairs," she said. "Long story short -- it was not the right time for me."

Now Rushton is preparing to open Mudsock Books & Curiosity Shoppe, a general bookstore featuring a mix of new and used books, card and board games, and both typical and unusual gift items. Mudsock, she explained, is an old nickname for Fishers, a suburb of Indianapolis.

Previously a company controller and income tax preparer (among a number of other accounting titles), Rushton waited until her children were married and "college was paid off" before actively seeking to open a bookstore. "I've decided that now was the time to follow my dream," Rushton said. "Being a CPA was never my dream -- but it paid the bills."   

The experience gained at Booksellers School, she said, "was great. We covered so much in such a short time. It was very intense."

Highlights for Rushton included the information provided in PowerPoint presentations about other bookstores, and the experiences shared by both new and seasoned bookstore owners. She also praised the presentations by vendors and the opportunity for one-on-one time with the facilitators. Rushton plans to use knowledge she gained from the workshop, and from other participants, to finalize arrangements for an anticipated opening in May 2008.

Attendee Maia Roberts found the Paz workshop content "especially valuable and timely," because opening day for Azizi Books, in Matteson, Illinois, is next week.

Azizi, an African-American specialty store, is located in the Lincoln Mall, a regional shopping center about 30 miles south of Chicago. Roberts co-owns the store with her father, Kevin Roberts. As of this past week, father and daughter are no longer working at their previous jobs -- Maia as a wine retailer and her father as a professor at DeVry University. Together, they have been selling African American-themed books and DVDs online for the past few years through their website, www.blackbooksdirect.com.

Maia Roberts told BTW that both she and her father had just completed MBA degrees in preparation for operating their own business. "We knew we were under the gun in terms of getting together the whole process," she said, adding that some of the most helpful information gained from the workshops was "getting Mark and Donna's insights about marketing and store design." Overall, she said that the workshop was a great learning experience.

Kaufman explained that one component of the five-day program is a field trip for participants to nearby independent bookstores. "We tell them where to go and what to look for, then we discuss their observations the next morning," he said.

According to Kaufman, the neighboring village of Oak Park is an ideal venue for this exploration. Not only is it the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway and home to the Hemingway Museum, but Oak Park supports three independents -- Barbara's Bookstore, The Book Table, and The Magic Tree Bookstore: "We feel that visiting [those stores] helps people [develop] a vision of what they want their own space to look like."

All of the workshop participants were invited to a lunch reception sponsored by ABA, where they had the opportunity to talk with ABA Director of Member Services Jill Perlstein, who also provided information about the association and its services at one of the workshop sessions. The prospective booksellers also attended the GLBA show, which took place following the workshop.

Cindy Rushton enjoyed the GLBA seminars and found great opportunities for networking -- both with booksellers and authors. "Many [of the authors] offered to come to my grand opening," Rushton said with a laugh. "I always thought, 'who would want to come to Fishers?'"

Rushton said that she plans to continue her bookselling education at the 2008 ABA Winter Institute in Louisville, Kentucky.

Barbara Thomas said of her experience at the GLBA show, "I really enjoyed meeting the different publishers and authors. There are a lot of choices to be made and keeping an open mind to all the possibilities is as scary as it is exhilarating."

For anyone who is thinking about buying or opening a bookstore, Paz & Associates will be conducting its next weeklong workshop, "Opening a Bookstore: The Business Essentials" from February 25 - 29, in Amelia Island, Florida. Details are available at pazbookbiz.com. --Nomi Schwartz