Here's what I was thinking. I live very close to a University that has a great reputation for history and the arts, including a world-class English department that has just signed on the Poet Laureate to teach their Postgraduate Creative Writing course. In short, a lot of students who need a lot of books.
Apart from a tiny (and I mean shoebox-sized) Waterstone's on Campus, there are no bookshops within easy reach for the students. They either have to drive ten minutes away (assuming they have cars), or else take the train for a couple of stops to the next town, where there is are two Chain stores on the high street.
My plan is to open a store within walking distance of the University. By taking a look at the course requirements that are posted on-line, I can see exactly which books the students will be required to read that year and then make sure I stock them. I might even be able to find out how many students enrolled for each class that year, and then use that information to figure out the minimum number of books I'll need to buy.
Also, I could offer to buy the books back at the end of the year, and then sell them on as bargain second-hand deals. I could keep student-friendly hours, staying open till quite late, and I could even provide study-tables and allow them to work and hang out. Finally, if I had the space, I could even run a small coffee bar as part opf the store, or if there was no room for anything but the stock, I could open close to an existing cafe and then work out some sort of mutual promotion. In fact a new internet cafe has just opened up in town which attract exactly the sort of customers I'm looking for.
So by making the university the focus of my store, I think I could provide a friendly comfortable localplace for them to hang out, get some work done, and above all buy some books!
Academic books usually have a lower rate of discount then other books, whearas on a fiction paperback you might get a discount of 45%, many academic books come with only a 25% discount, some are as low as 5% meaning that by the time you have paid for the carriage, the man hours to unpack and shelve them (not to mention any time spent sourcing them and chasing the orders) you don't always make very much money at all, there are reasonably regular occasions where we (I work for a large chain) actually loose money on academic books.
Out local university bookshop has (as you would expect) two peaks of sales a year, the rest of the year it is dead, they send their extra staff to us over Christmas and lay off staff and close at weekends during the summer because it's just not profitable.
Academic books tend to get updated regularly, a lot of time will be devoted to rounding them up and returning them to the publishers if they don't sell, again there are carriage costs to consider.
Our university shop used to buy back books and sell them on second hand but they gave up becuse it didn't make anough money, I think it was decided that the space in the shop was a lot more profitable filled with new books.
Thats all I can think of for now, I hope it's helpful, and good luck with your planning! :)
My plan is to open a store within walking distance of the University.
So far, so good.
By taking a look at the course requirements that are posted on-line, I can see exactly which books the students will be required to read that year and then make sure I stock them. I might even be able to find out how many students enrolled for each class that year, and then use that information to figure out the minimum number of books I'll need to buy.
Okay, you can do all these things. But you're going to have to sell them for a discount (and you won't get academic texts cheap) to get the students to come to you. Students will go for the best prices (although those tend to be online, so remember, you're not only competing with the campus bookstore).
Also, bear in mind that you'll probably piss Waterstone's off by selling textbooks and trying to cut into their business. Most campus bookstores have an exclusive contract with the university, and they can ask the administration to tell the students that *they* are the campus bookstore, not you, and ask the students not to patronize your business (not saying that will work, but...).
Also, I could offer to buy the books back at the end of the year, and then sell them on as bargain second-hand deals.
This could work, but you should be prepared to pay the students more than the books are worth, because what students want at the end of the year is money, and text buyback prices are notoriously low. And bear in mind that used books are already sold by the college bookstores.
I could keep student-friendly hours, staying open till quite late, and I could even provide study-tables and allow them to work and hang out. Finally, if I had the space, I could even run a small coffee bar as part opf the store, or if there was no room for anything but the stock, I could open close to an existing cafe and then work out some sort of mutual promotion. In fact a new internet cafe has just opened up in town which attract exactly the sort of customers I'm looking for.
That's a great idea! It would be cool if you could share a connecting wall, and bust through it so it would be easy coming and going from both places.
I hope I didn't sound too negative. Just for the record, I worked in an independent bookstore for 7 years, and we also ran 5 college bookstores. Currently, I'm working full-time at one of the universities, and part-time at a local Borders.
I'd suggest, since your interests seem to run this way, working at a campus bookstore to get a sense of what you're getting into. It's a really hard market. They want what they want, immediately, and, if possible, free. They don't want to go too far off campus to buy it, and as a whole, they're not big into extracurricular reading - they want to spend their disposable income on pizza and beer. ;-)
Here's what I was thinking. I live very close to a University that has a great reputation for history and the arts, including a world-class English department that has just signed on the Poet Laureate to teach their Postgraduate Creative Writing course. In short, a lot of students who need a lot of books.
Apart from a tiny (and I mean shoebox-sized) Waterstone's on Campus, there are no bookshops within easy reach for the students. They either have to drive ten minutes away (assuming they have cars), or else take the train for a couple of stops to the next town, where there is are two Chain stores on the high street.
My plan is to open a store within walking distance of the University. By taking a look at the course requirements that are posted on-line, I can see exactly which books the students will be required to read that year and then make sure I stock them. I might even be able to find out how many students enrolled for each class that year, and then use that information to figure out the minimum number of books I'll need to buy.
Also, I could offer to buy the books back at the end of the year, and then sell them on as bargain second-hand deals. I could keep student-friendly hours, staying open till quite late, and I could even provide study-tables and allow them to work and hang out. Finally, if I had the space, I could even run a small coffee bar as part opf the store, or if there was no room for anything but the stock, I could open close to an existing cafe and then work out some sort of mutual promotion. In fact a new internet cafe has just opened up in town which attract exactly the sort of customers I'm looking for.
So by making the university the focus of my store, I think I could provide a friendly comfortable localplace for them to hang out, get some work done, and above all buy some books!
Think it would work?
Reply
Out local university bookshop has (as you would expect) two peaks of sales a year, the rest of the year it is dead, they send their extra staff to us over Christmas and lay off staff and close at weekends during the summer because it's just not profitable.
Academic books tend to get updated regularly, a lot of time will be devoted to rounding them up and returning them to the publishers if they don't sell, again there are carriage costs to consider.
Our university shop used to buy back books and sell them on second hand but they gave up becuse it didn't make anough money, I think it was decided that the space in the shop was a lot more profitable filled with new books.
Thats all I can think of for now, I hope it's helpful, and good luck with your planning! :)
Reply
So far, so good.
By taking a look at the course requirements that are posted on-line, I can see exactly which books the students will be required to read that year and then make sure I stock them. I might even be able to find out how many students enrolled for each class that year, and then use that information to figure out the minimum number of books I'll need to buy.
Okay, you can do all these things. But you're going to have to sell them for a discount (and you won't get academic texts cheap) to get the students to come to you. Students will go for the best prices (although those tend to be online, so remember, you're not only competing with the campus bookstore).
Also, bear in mind that you'll probably piss Waterstone's off by selling textbooks and trying to cut into their business. Most campus bookstores have an exclusive contract with the university, and they can ask the administration to tell the students that *they* are the campus bookstore, not you, and ask the students not to patronize your business (not saying that will work, but...).
Also, I could offer to buy the books back at the end of the year, and then sell them on as bargain second-hand deals.
This could work, but you should be prepared to pay the students more than the books are worth, because what students want at the end of the year is money, and text buyback prices are notoriously low. And bear in mind that used books are already sold by the college bookstores.
I could keep student-friendly hours, staying open till quite late, and I could even provide study-tables and allow them to work and hang out. Finally, if I had the space, I could even run a small coffee bar as part opf the store, or if there was no room for anything but the stock, I could open close to an existing cafe and then work out some sort of mutual promotion. In fact a new internet cafe has just opened up in town which attract exactly the sort of customers I'm looking for.
That's a great idea! It would be cool if you could share a connecting wall, and bust through it so it would be easy coming and going from both places.
I hope I didn't sound too negative. Just for the record, I worked in an independent bookstore for 7 years, and we also ran 5 college bookstores. Currently, I'm working full-time at one of the universities, and part-time at a local Borders.
I'd suggest, since your interests seem to run this way, working at a campus bookstore to get a sense of what you're getting into. It's a really hard market. They want what they want, immediately, and, if possible, free. They don't want to go too far off campus to buy it, and as a whole, they're not big into extracurricular reading - they want to spend their disposable income on pizza and beer. ;-)
Reply
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