By KENDRA SITTON | Uptown News
With Amazon shifting its delivery priorities to household goods, the company that started as an online bookstore has Prime members waiting five days to a month for in-stock books to be delivered. Despite storefronts being closed, independent bookstores have a unique opportunity during the pandemic to reach new customers through book delivery.
The Book Catapult in Burlingame has managed to maintain its normal sales numbers and even increase them slightly by offering free delivery to many neighborhoods. Compared to March 2019, co-owner Seth Marko said their online sales increased by over 2,000% in March 2020.
“We always did do a little bit of business through our website, but nothing like this,” he said.
They have kept all employees working by shifting booksellers to new roles. Alexiss is picking up books each day than packaging them for USPS to ship. Meanwhile, Matthew is fulfilling free delivery orders to several neighborhoods in Uptown in his car. Co-owner Seth Marko has been inside the store on Juniper Street processing orders, ordering books, and receiving shipments while co-owner Jennifer Powell cares for their young children at home.
In addition to regulars, the Amazon’s delivery lag has brought new customers to The Book Catapult.
“I think people are realizing that ‘Oh, there is actually a bookstore that maybe actually has this in stock and can deliver it tomorrow for free. Hopefully people will remember that we are here when this is all over,” Marko said.
Unlike other bookstores that have stopped receiving books from publishers during the crisis, The Book Catapult has kept its accounts with publishers to keep bringing in newly-released books, a lifesaver for authors of new books.
Many authors depend on book signings, speaking events and tours to sell their books. While a few events have been moved online, this is a major loss of income for many.
Book signings are really about getting word out about the book and getting it on people’s radars, explained Little Italy Author Corey Lynn Fayman. The tour for his mystery novel “Ballast Point Breakdown” was cut short because of the pandemic, which he believes could affect his bottom line.
Selling books without those events is the only way authors can recoup their incomes, at least partially.
For some customers, supporting a local bookstore is also an ethical stance. While Amazon has been accused of not protecting its workers from COVID-19 despite its billions of dollars in profits, supporting a small business while so many are failing is another way to give back to the community.
Still, so many people losing their jobs is preventing some from purchasing books at all. Kris Nelson, owner of Bluestocking Books in Hillcrest, noticed an immediate plunge in sales as soon as the first wave of lay-offs hit. On April 1, she did not have enough money for rent or payroll despite a few customers transitioning to buying online. Many employees have kept working without pay because of their passion for books.
“We love books and the bookshop as a job and the bookshop tradition. [Working] gives our days meaning, and now especially a great place to weigh us down and give purpose,” explained Nelson.
Bluestocking is selling gift cards and offering curbside pick-up as well as shipping books through the mail. Bluestocking’s mix of used and new books were already showcased on their website and Abe Books.
“They were all things we already did but most people shopping here just hadn’t used these services,” Nelson said.
In addition, Bluestocking Books recently joined bookshop.org, a new site for independent bookstores that has promised to give affiliates a larger portion of sales than Amazon. It is also more user friendly and has better incentives for publishers and authors to use it than indiebound.com, which always faltered at rivaling Amazon.
Even iconic independent bookstores that have pivoted to online sales have struggled with their brick-and-mortar stores shut down. Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon, the world’s largest independent bookstore, had to put out a desperate plea for customers to buy books to stave off lay-offs. San Francisco’s City of Lights Bookstore had to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to stay in business.
Other bookstores have chosen different paths. Verbatim Books in North Park has furloughed staff and has not moved to sell books online.
“We are completely closed and are not selling books online. Verbatim Books aims to cultivate a browsing experience where people can browse and discover new books in a pleasant, art-filled environment and online sales are not conducive to this mission,” said Justine Epstein.
Epstein has applied for local and federal grants and is not worried about the survival of the bookstore at this time.
Even book buyers shopping online have lamented the loss of getting to shop at the brick-and-mortar store. Marko is in the best financial position of the three bookstores in Uptown, but he has noticed this loss as well.
“Most people when they place an online order, they’ll leave a note that says, ‘I can’t wait to come back in and actually look at the books or touch the books.’ It’s a strange existence right now. I’m in here by myself in a space that we created so that we could have conversations with people about books all day long,” Marko said. He has been alone in the store listening to music for the last few weeks.
Marko estimates that each transaction is taking 10 times the work of a normal purchase. He thinks they may actually be doing more work than normal and is trying not to overburden his booksellers, especially The Book Catapult’s bookseller Matthew who is spending all day in a car making deliveries— which is not the job he signed up for.
“I hope it doesn’t go on forever because it’s a terrible business model,” Marko said.
National Independent Bookstore Day has been postponed from later this month in April to August. Bookstores are hoping to host events in their brick-and-mortars then, as long as they make it through this crisis.
— Kendra Sitton can be reached at [email protected].
