(no subject)
I am appealing to everyone who reads this journal to take a few moments and help me with something. As many of you know, I spent several years working at an independent bookstore in Marin County. I started in high school and have returned during most of my breaks from school. They have been very good to me as an employee, and I have enjoyed working there immensely. On several occaisions, the owners have met with people from the local shopping center (The Town Center) down the road to negotiate a lease so the bookstore could move into a more populated area to help business. The public would benefit from this move because Book Passage is far more than just a bookstore. It averages over 500 auther events per year (thats more than one a day) and offers classes and conferences to help budding writers, or people who just want to learn. The store is also used for occaisional community meetings. As a former employee, I can attest to the quality of service that far surpasses that of chain bookstores. The employees are all avid readers and love to share that with the customers. It is what I call "one stop service" as the same person will look up a book for you, find it, recommend others, and ring you up. We recognize repeated customers and make them welcome.
The Town Center has announced that they are offering a space to Barnes and Noble, which will have devastating effects on Book Passage, and will potentially eliminate the store. While this may be just a simple act of business, the property manager, Stan Hoffman, has been very difficult to work with, and even took away an offer and gave it to another store after much work had been put into the deal. Many members of the community are upset that the center is doing this, when they could just as well offer the space to a cornerstone of the literary community. In a response, Stan Hoffman has sent out a massively misleading letter regarding the prior negotiations with Book Passage.
Therefore, I am asking all of you to help by writing letters encouraging Stan Hoffman to stop the deal with Barnes and Noble and instead work honestly with Book Passage so that the store will stay open and the community will benefit from having a larger, wonderful community-oriented store rather than yet another chain. Even a simple e-mail will help out dramatically! PLEASE!
Below the cut I have included the text of an e-mail sent out by Book Passage, as well as the contact information of Mr. Hoffman and others to write letters to. That information is at the bottom.
Book Passage Special Fortnightly
The Bay Area's Liveliest Bookstore
January 23, 2006
We try to limit the number of electronic newsletters that we send to our customers, but we feel the need to bring people up to date on an issue of importance to us. The Town Center in Corte Madera is apparently planning to lease a very large space to Barnes & Noble, and the situation surrounding this has raised all kinds of questions. Below is some information that we feel is important. Thank your for your patience.
"Bookstore Giant Alarms Fans of Small Bookseller"
Response to Stan Hoffman, Town Center manager
Book Passage and the Local Economy
Where to Write
1. "Bookstore Giant Alarms Fans of Small Bookseller"
That's the headline to the front-page article in the Marin Independent Journal on Friday, January 20. You can read it here: www.marinij.com/fastsearchresults/ci_3421030
2. Response to Stan Hoffman, Town Center manager
We are very grateful to all of the people who have taken the time to write to the Town Center, expressing their concern about the possible leasing of the Marshall's space to Barnes & Noble. The outpouring of community support has been truly gratifying.
We are concerned, however, about the misstatements that Stan Hoffman, manager of the Town Center, has included in his form letter responding to these emails. The misstatements are serious enough that we feel we need to set the record straight. We hope you will bear with us as we try to lay out the facts involved in this dispute.
Our response:
Hoffman:
"When the Woolworth's space became available, we offered it to them, but they declined. When the JC Penney's space became available we offered to them but they declined."
The Facts:
Hoffman's statement is a distorted version of a couple of decidedly unpleasant meetings.
Mr. Hoffman and a colleague of his first contacted us about ten years ago. However, they never made never made us a serious offer about either of the two spaces that he mentions. Even if they had, we would have been in no position to act on it because we had several years left on our then current lease.
The strongest recollection that we have, however, was the threat from Mr. Hoffman's colleague. She said, quite bluntly, that we either move to the Town Center or they would bring in Barnes & Noble. She indicated that she knew that bringing in Barnes & Noble into the Town Center could have a negative effect on our business.
We told them that we didn't respond well to these types of threats and that there was really nothing further to discuss.
Hoffman:
"When the Stroud's space became available, we tried to find a way to accommodate Book Passage, but as they had several years left on their existing lease they could not afford to pay rent on two locations, and we could not give them the space rent free for several years."
The Facts:
When we found out that the Stroud's space was available we decided to bury our misgivings and talk to Mr. Hoffman and his colleagues again. We stated right at the beginning that we would not talk to them at all if they repeated the threats about Barnes & Noble that they had made at the meeting years earlier. We were assured that these meetings would be conducted in a much different tone. Although she is still an executive with the leasing company, the woman who made the earlier threat did not appear at any of these meetings.
We were genuinely interested in renting the Stroud's space and told them so. At first, they seemed very enthusiastic about renting it to us. They knew that there would be about a year's overlap on our then current lease, but they said that they would be willing to buy us out of that lease and provide money for improvements to the new space. They asked us what we needed and said it would be provided. We spent a great deal of time making drawings, talking to contractors, and planning for the move.
Then, without warning, they withdrew the Stroud's space from our consideration. They gave no satisfactory explanation for their change in attitude, and they were vague about who in their organization actually made the decision. Shortly thereafter they announced they were renting the space to Williams-Sonoma for a West Elm store. We are still puzzled by their switch from great enthusiasm to total refusal.
Hoffman:
"At that time, we agreed that when the Marshalls space became available, they would have first shot at it. We spent almost one year negotiating a lease with Book Passages for the Marshalls space, including paying for meetings with architects and space planners. On 3/27/05 we received an email from Bill Petrocelli informing us that he had renewed his lease at his existing location. I have that email and am willing to share it with you."
The Facts:
Mr. Hoffman's statement is very misleading.
After they withdrew the Stroud's space from our consideration, Mr. Hoffman and his colleagues tried to convince us to lease a portion of the Marshall's space (They indicated that Marshall's was leaving the Town Center-not being forced out). But what they offered us was totally unsatisfactory.
They didn't offer us the "Marshall's space," as Mr. Hoffman indicated, but only a rear portion of that space that had virtually no light and an awkward configuration. According to them, they already had a signed letter of commitment with the Anthropologie company for the better part (the northern part) of that space. They would not even consider talking to us about that part of the space. Now it appears that their commitment to Anthropologie has been cast aside, and they are apparently now getting ready to rent the entire space to Barnes & Noble.
We tried to work with them to see if the space that they were offering could be made acceptable, explaining to them that we needed better light and a better design than what they were offering in order to accommodate the author events, classes, café, and the other things that make Book Passage what it is. We had one meeting with their architect, but he never came up with a plan or design. Mr. Hoffman and his colleagues were unwilling to budge on what they were offering - even refusing to move a trash compactor that blocked us from putting windows and a proper door on the east side of the space. Finally, we decided that the cramped space that they were offering us just wasn't going to work.
Mr. Hoffman implies that we sent him an email in which we abruptly turned down a very good offer from Town Center. This is what that the Book Passage email to him on March 27, 2005 actually says:
"I'm sorry that we were unable to lease a space for Book Passage at the Town Center, but we felt that the space that was being offered to us wasn't suitable for the type of bookstore that we operate.
As you know, we have been discussing our possible move to Town Center for about a year and a half. At first we discussed the old Stroud's space, and it appeared that we were all agreed that it would be right for us. Elaine and I were very enthusiastic about that space and felt that it could be an excellent new home for Book Passage. That's why we were very disappointed when you withdrew your offer on that space and leased it to West Elm.
When we then began discussing our possible move the Marshall's space, we felt that it would only really work if we could get the north portion of that space. That part of the space is much more accessible to the public and has much better natural light -- both of these things are very important to us. We believe that Book Passage is somewhat unique among retailers, because we present over 500 author events a year and hold many classes, conferences, and book groups in the store. When you add to this our café and our big bookselling operation, I think it is clear that we need a space that is both open and flexible. I know we discussed this at some length in our meetings.
Unfortunately, the only part of the Marshall's space that was offered to us was the south end, which has difficult access problems and virtually no natural light. We thought long and hard about how we could make that space work for us, but there wasn't any satisfactory way to do it. I think we made clear to you and your architect in our meetings what the problems were. But the measures that were suggested seemed prohibitively expensive and not really satisfactory.
We finally decided that we could not risk the future of Book Passage in a space that we did not feel would be good for our business. For that reason, we have decided to stay where we are and to try and provide the best bookstore experience that we can for our community."
Hoffman:
"We believe that Book Passage has a unique niche in this market and has held their own with Barnes & Noble across the freeway and Boarders in San Rafael. Neither of those chain stores operates on the same model as Book Passages. Book Passage offers a high level of service and has authors and speakers from all over the globe. Both Barnes and Boarders have limited service, few speakers and offers discount prices. However, they do offer music and movies that are lacking at Town Center. They have an entirely different customer base then Book Passage. If Barnes were to move across the freeway the status quo should remain in tact."
The Facts:
This sugar-coated description of the book business is intended to get people believing that Barnes & Noble doesn't really compete with Book Passage and that leasing this large space to them won't have any ill effects whatsoever. But that's not how chainstores operate.
No one should be under any illusion about what is going on here.
The Town Center is reportedly leasing to Barnes & Noble a space that may be close to three times larger than its current space and in a better location. In order to make this major move profitable, Barnes & Noble has to sell a lot more books-millions of dollars more annually. There can be no doubt that Barnes & Noble will make an all-out effort to grab the sales they need from other booksellers. That is the way that they have done business nationwide for over twenty years, and there is no reason to believe that they will change their tactics now.
It would be nice to think that the book business and book readership is growing so rapidly that all of these increased sales will come from new customers and not affect any other business. But that simply isn't true. In the last couple of decades book readership in the U.S. has declined as a percentage of the population and book sales have been flat. During that same period, however, Barnes & Noble and the other major chain, Borders, has just about doubled the amount of retail bookselling space in the country by opening more than 800 outlets, many of them in the backyard of local independent bookstores. The sales necessary to sustain these two chainstores have come largely out of the business of independent booksellers. Independents have found their market share drop by about half during that period, and the number of independent stores has dropped by an even larger percentage.
It might be different if this chainstore growth was all the result of fair, honest competition, but it hasn't been that way. Several lawsuits and an F.T.C. investigation have shown that the chains have benefited from discriminatory prices and heavy promotional allowances that they have extracted from publishers. When opening a new store in a community, they typically target their advertising and promotion to overwhelm the local competition before moving on to the next community on the list. They don't have to siphon off all of the local business to force their local competitors out of business-usually a steady decline of about 10% will do it.
If the local independent business loses, the entire community loses. Studies have shown that locally owned businesses return money to their community in the form of local expenditures at a rate about 70% higher than their chainstore competitors. But they can't do that unless they have a fair chance to stay in business. It is nice that Mr. Hoffman acknowledges that Book Passage "offers a high level of service" and that we have "authors and speakers from all over the globe." But all of that means nothing, unless enough merchandise is sold to sustain it.
3. Book Passage and the Local Economy
a. The Local Advantage
In 2004 the firm of Civic Economics conducted a study comparing the economic impact on the local economy of locally-owned businesses versus chainstores. The study was conducted in the Andersonville section of Chicago, and it produced results similar to those of other studies. It also confirmed what independent retailers had long contended: Locally owned businesses contribute far more to the local economy than chainstores.
The Andersonville Study, which included independent bookstores as well as other local business, found that the "local advantage" was about 70%-that is to say, local businesses returned about 70% more to the local economy in terms of wages, purchases, contributions, and other expenditures than did their chainstore competitors.
Some highlights of the study
(the study can be found at www.Andersonvillestudy.com)
"Locally-owned businesses generate a substantial Local
Premium in enhanced economic impact.
· For every $100 in consumer spending with a local firm,
$68 remains in the Chicago economy.
· For every $100 in consumer spending with a chain firm,
$43 remains in the Chicago economy.
· For every square foot occupied by a local firm, local
economic impact is $179.
· For every square foot occupied by a chain firm, local
economic impact is $105."
"The study points to clear policy implications.
· Local merchants generate substantially greater economic
impact than chain firms.
· Replacement of local businesses with chains will reduce
the overall vigor of the local economy.
· Changes in consumer spending habits can generate
substantial local economic impact.
· Great care must be taken to ensure that public policy
decisions do not inadvertently disadvantage locally owned
businesses. Indeed, it may be in the best interests of
communities to institute policies that directly protect them."
b. Book Passage Expenditures
The results of the Andersonville Study has prompted us took look at our own expenditures with an eye towards gauging the local impact. The list of local contractors, merchants, service professionals, financial institutions, and others with whom we regularly do business is long and deep.
But the list becomes even longer when you add in the impact of our author events, classes, conferences, and other programs. We believe that if you add in the effect of these additional activities, the impact on the local economy is a good deal greater than the 70% advantage found in the Andersonville study. Many customers attending Book Passage author events (of which there are about 500 per year) come from a considerable distance, and while they are here they dine at local restaurants and shop at nearby stores. The same is true of people that come for book groups, attend classes, or come to the store for a community meeting. Author events at outside locations often generate revenue for other local businesses. The Book Passage Cooks with Books program fills the local Left Bank restaurant and sometimes other restaurants with customers. During Book Passage writing conferences teachers and students are housed at local hotels for a period of up to five days at a time.
Here is a partial list of local firms and institutions with which we do business:
Bank of Marin (all business banking)
Hospice of Marin (joint book sales)
Marin Literacy Project (fund-raising events)
Ross Valley Pharmacy (book deliveries through "BP to Go")
Left Bank Restaurant (Cooks with Books dinners and conference dinners)
Ideal Stationers (office supplies)
Redwood Security (alarm system)
Allen Heating (heating and air conditioning)
Lark Creek Inn (author events and meetings)
Woodlands Market
Paradise Market
Ram Insta-Print
Corbett's Hardware
Photosprint (photography)
Corte Madera Inn (housing for conferences and classes)
Marin Suites (housing for conferences and classes)
Sakana Bistro (conference and author-event meals)
Izzy's (conference and author-event meals)
Any Mountain (joint author events)
Corporate Media (sound systems)
Sally of the Sawdust (bookshelves and display fixtures)
Brown & Brown/Dan Slane (Insurance)
Peter Lagarias (attorney)
David Tucker (architect)
Western Espresso & Tea
Mary Osborne Designs (logos, signs and graphics)
Mill Valley Services (printing)
Bill Edwards (maintenance and construction)
Marin Copier Company (photocopier maintenance)
Western Exterminator
Passport Health (flu shots)
Hannibal Electricians
Liberty Telecom (phone maintenance)
Comet Maintenance (cleaning service)
Red Robin Catering (events and conferences)
Marin Lock and Key
Passion Flowers
Kim's Orchids
Bridgeway Bagels
Marin Produce
International Pastry
Marin Foods
Paul's Bakery
Sweetmill Bakery
Woodbine Bakery
4. Where to Write
If you wish to express your concern about this, please write or send an email to the following people:
Stan Hoffman
Property Manager
100 Corte Madera Town Center
Corte Madera, CA 94925
shoffman@mmrs.com
415- 924-2961
Eric Hohmann
Madison Marquette Retail Services
660 Davis Street
San Francisco, California 94111
ehohmann@mmrs.com
415-277-6805 / 415/217-5368 Fax
Glen Rosen
Madison Marquette Retail Services
12121 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1300
Los Angeles, California 90025
grosen@mmrs.com
310-443-7500 / 310-820-2076 Fax
Jay Tashiro
Town Manager, Corte Madera
300 Tamalpais Drive
Corte Madera, CA 94925
administration@ci.corte-madera.ca.us
415-927-5050 / fax 415-927-5087
Some concerned people have also put together an emergency website with information about this issue: www.omnibusol.com/ccsib.html
We thank you very much for your interest and any help you can give.
Your Friends at Book Passage
friends@bookpassage.com
Remove yourself from future email here or reply to this message with the word 'remove' in your email message subject line.
Book Passage, Inc. 51 Tamal Vista Blvd. Corte Madera, CA 94925
This message was sent to joessandwich@hotmail.com
pmguid:42u.f27j.3od
The Town Center has announced that they are offering a space to Barnes and Noble, which will have devastating effects on Book Passage, and will potentially eliminate the store. While this may be just a simple act of business, the property manager, Stan Hoffman, has been very difficult to work with, and even took away an offer and gave it to another store after much work had been put into the deal. Many members of the community are upset that the center is doing this, when they could just as well offer the space to a cornerstone of the literary community. In a response, Stan Hoffman has sent out a massively misleading letter regarding the prior negotiations with Book Passage.
Therefore, I am asking all of you to help by writing letters encouraging Stan Hoffman to stop the deal with Barnes and Noble and instead work honestly with Book Passage so that the store will stay open and the community will benefit from having a larger, wonderful community-oriented store rather than yet another chain. Even a simple e-mail will help out dramatically! PLEASE!
Below the cut I have included the text of an e-mail sent out by Book Passage, as well as the contact information of Mr. Hoffman and others to write letters to. That information is at the bottom.
Book Passage Special Fortnightly
The Bay Area's Liveliest Bookstore
January 23, 2006
We try to limit the number of electronic newsletters that we send to our customers, but we feel the need to bring people up to date on an issue of importance to us. The Town Center in Corte Madera is apparently planning to lease a very large space to Barnes & Noble, and the situation surrounding this has raised all kinds of questions. Below is some information that we feel is important. Thank your for your patience.
"Bookstore Giant Alarms Fans of Small Bookseller"
Response to Stan Hoffman, Town Center manager
Book Passage and the Local Economy
Where to Write
1. "Bookstore Giant Alarms Fans of Small Bookseller"
That's the headline to the front-page article in the Marin Independent Journal on Friday, January 20. You can read it here: www.marinij.com/fastsearchresults/ci_3421030
2. Response to Stan Hoffman, Town Center manager
We are very grateful to all of the people who have taken the time to write to the Town Center, expressing their concern about the possible leasing of the Marshall's space to Barnes & Noble. The outpouring of community support has been truly gratifying.
We are concerned, however, about the misstatements that Stan Hoffman, manager of the Town Center, has included in his form letter responding to these emails. The misstatements are serious enough that we feel we need to set the record straight. We hope you will bear with us as we try to lay out the facts involved in this dispute.
Our response:
Hoffman:
"When the Woolworth's space became available, we offered it to them, but they declined. When the JC Penney's space became available we offered to them but they declined."
The Facts:
Hoffman's statement is a distorted version of a couple of decidedly unpleasant meetings.
Mr. Hoffman and a colleague of his first contacted us about ten years ago. However, they never made never made us a serious offer about either of the two spaces that he mentions. Even if they had, we would have been in no position to act on it because we had several years left on our then current lease.
The strongest recollection that we have, however, was the threat from Mr. Hoffman's colleague. She said, quite bluntly, that we either move to the Town Center or they would bring in Barnes & Noble. She indicated that she knew that bringing in Barnes & Noble into the Town Center could have a negative effect on our business.
We told them that we didn't respond well to these types of threats and that there was really nothing further to discuss.
Hoffman:
"When the Stroud's space became available, we tried to find a way to accommodate Book Passage, but as they had several years left on their existing lease they could not afford to pay rent on two locations, and we could not give them the space rent free for several years."
The Facts:
When we found out that the Stroud's space was available we decided to bury our misgivings and talk to Mr. Hoffman and his colleagues again. We stated right at the beginning that we would not talk to them at all if they repeated the threats about Barnes & Noble that they had made at the meeting years earlier. We were assured that these meetings would be conducted in a much different tone. Although she is still an executive with the leasing company, the woman who made the earlier threat did not appear at any of these meetings.
We were genuinely interested in renting the Stroud's space and told them so. At first, they seemed very enthusiastic about renting it to us. They knew that there would be about a year's overlap on our then current lease, but they said that they would be willing to buy us out of that lease and provide money for improvements to the new space. They asked us what we needed and said it would be provided. We spent a great deal of time making drawings, talking to contractors, and planning for the move.
Then, without warning, they withdrew the Stroud's space from our consideration. They gave no satisfactory explanation for their change in attitude, and they were vague about who in their organization actually made the decision. Shortly thereafter they announced they were renting the space to Williams-Sonoma for a West Elm store. We are still puzzled by their switch from great enthusiasm to total refusal.
Hoffman:
"At that time, we agreed that when the Marshalls space became available, they would have first shot at it. We spent almost one year negotiating a lease with Book Passages for the Marshalls space, including paying for meetings with architects and space planners. On 3/27/05 we received an email from Bill Petrocelli informing us that he had renewed his lease at his existing location. I have that email and am willing to share it with you."
The Facts:
Mr. Hoffman's statement is very misleading.
After they withdrew the Stroud's space from our consideration, Mr. Hoffman and his colleagues tried to convince us to lease a portion of the Marshall's space (They indicated that Marshall's was leaving the Town Center-not being forced out). But what they offered us was totally unsatisfactory.
They didn't offer us the "Marshall's space," as Mr. Hoffman indicated, but only a rear portion of that space that had virtually no light and an awkward configuration. According to them, they already had a signed letter of commitment with the Anthropologie company for the better part (the northern part) of that space. They would not even consider talking to us about that part of the space. Now it appears that their commitment to Anthropologie has been cast aside, and they are apparently now getting ready to rent the entire space to Barnes & Noble.
We tried to work with them to see if the space that they were offering could be made acceptable, explaining to them that we needed better light and a better design than what they were offering in order to accommodate the author events, classes, café, and the other things that make Book Passage what it is. We had one meeting with their architect, but he never came up with a plan or design. Mr. Hoffman and his colleagues were unwilling to budge on what they were offering - even refusing to move a trash compactor that blocked us from putting windows and a proper door on the east side of the space. Finally, we decided that the cramped space that they were offering us just wasn't going to work.
Mr. Hoffman implies that we sent him an email in which we abruptly turned down a very good offer from Town Center. This is what that the Book Passage email to him on March 27, 2005 actually says:
"I'm sorry that we were unable to lease a space for Book Passage at the Town Center, but we felt that the space that was being offered to us wasn't suitable for the type of bookstore that we operate.
As you know, we have been discussing our possible move to Town Center for about a year and a half. At first we discussed the old Stroud's space, and it appeared that we were all agreed that it would be right for us. Elaine and I were very enthusiastic about that space and felt that it could be an excellent new home for Book Passage. That's why we were very disappointed when you withdrew your offer on that space and leased it to West Elm.
When we then began discussing our possible move the Marshall's space, we felt that it would only really work if we could get the north portion of that space. That part of the space is much more accessible to the public and has much better natural light -- both of these things are very important to us. We believe that Book Passage is somewhat unique among retailers, because we present over 500 author events a year and hold many classes, conferences, and book groups in the store. When you add to this our café and our big bookselling operation, I think it is clear that we need a space that is both open and flexible. I know we discussed this at some length in our meetings.
Unfortunately, the only part of the Marshall's space that was offered to us was the south end, which has difficult access problems and virtually no natural light. We thought long and hard about how we could make that space work for us, but there wasn't any satisfactory way to do it. I think we made clear to you and your architect in our meetings what the problems were. But the measures that were suggested seemed prohibitively expensive and not really satisfactory.
We finally decided that we could not risk the future of Book Passage in a space that we did not feel would be good for our business. For that reason, we have decided to stay where we are and to try and provide the best bookstore experience that we can for our community."
Hoffman:
"We believe that Book Passage has a unique niche in this market and has held their own with Barnes & Noble across the freeway and Boarders in San Rafael. Neither of those chain stores operates on the same model as Book Passages. Book Passage offers a high level of service and has authors and speakers from all over the globe. Both Barnes and Boarders have limited service, few speakers and offers discount prices. However, they do offer music and movies that are lacking at Town Center. They have an entirely different customer base then Book Passage. If Barnes were to move across the freeway the status quo should remain in tact."
The Facts:
This sugar-coated description of the book business is intended to get people believing that Barnes & Noble doesn't really compete with Book Passage and that leasing this large space to them won't have any ill effects whatsoever. But that's not how chainstores operate.
No one should be under any illusion about what is going on here.
The Town Center is reportedly leasing to Barnes & Noble a space that may be close to three times larger than its current space and in a better location. In order to make this major move profitable, Barnes & Noble has to sell a lot more books-millions of dollars more annually. There can be no doubt that Barnes & Noble will make an all-out effort to grab the sales they need from other booksellers. That is the way that they have done business nationwide for over twenty years, and there is no reason to believe that they will change their tactics now.
It would be nice to think that the book business and book readership is growing so rapidly that all of these increased sales will come from new customers and not affect any other business. But that simply isn't true. In the last couple of decades book readership in the U.S. has declined as a percentage of the population and book sales have been flat. During that same period, however, Barnes & Noble and the other major chain, Borders, has just about doubled the amount of retail bookselling space in the country by opening more than 800 outlets, many of them in the backyard of local independent bookstores. The sales necessary to sustain these two chainstores have come largely out of the business of independent booksellers. Independents have found their market share drop by about half during that period, and the number of independent stores has dropped by an even larger percentage.
It might be different if this chainstore growth was all the result of fair, honest competition, but it hasn't been that way. Several lawsuits and an F.T.C. investigation have shown that the chains have benefited from discriminatory prices and heavy promotional allowances that they have extracted from publishers. When opening a new store in a community, they typically target their advertising and promotion to overwhelm the local competition before moving on to the next community on the list. They don't have to siphon off all of the local business to force their local competitors out of business-usually a steady decline of about 10% will do it.
If the local independent business loses, the entire community loses. Studies have shown that locally owned businesses return money to their community in the form of local expenditures at a rate about 70% higher than their chainstore competitors. But they can't do that unless they have a fair chance to stay in business. It is nice that Mr. Hoffman acknowledges that Book Passage "offers a high level of service" and that we have "authors and speakers from all over the globe." But all of that means nothing, unless enough merchandise is sold to sustain it.
3. Book Passage and the Local Economy
a. The Local Advantage
In 2004 the firm of Civic Economics conducted a study comparing the economic impact on the local economy of locally-owned businesses versus chainstores. The study was conducted in the Andersonville section of Chicago, and it produced results similar to those of other studies. It also confirmed what independent retailers had long contended: Locally owned businesses contribute far more to the local economy than chainstores.
The Andersonville Study, which included independent bookstores as well as other local business, found that the "local advantage" was about 70%-that is to say, local businesses returned about 70% more to the local economy in terms of wages, purchases, contributions, and other expenditures than did their chainstore competitors.
Some highlights of the study
(the study can be found at www.Andersonvillestudy.com)
"Locally-owned businesses generate a substantial Local
Premium in enhanced economic impact.
· For every $100 in consumer spending with a local firm,
$68 remains in the Chicago economy.
· For every $100 in consumer spending with a chain firm,
$43 remains in the Chicago economy.
· For every square foot occupied by a local firm, local
economic impact is $179.
· For every square foot occupied by a chain firm, local
economic impact is $105."
"The study points to clear policy implications.
· Local merchants generate substantially greater economic
impact than chain firms.
· Replacement of local businesses with chains will reduce
the overall vigor of the local economy.
· Changes in consumer spending habits can generate
substantial local economic impact.
· Great care must be taken to ensure that public policy
decisions do not inadvertently disadvantage locally owned
businesses. Indeed, it may be in the best interests of
communities to institute policies that directly protect them."
b. Book Passage Expenditures
The results of the Andersonville Study has prompted us took look at our own expenditures with an eye towards gauging the local impact. The list of local contractors, merchants, service professionals, financial institutions, and others with whom we regularly do business is long and deep.
But the list becomes even longer when you add in the impact of our author events, classes, conferences, and other programs. We believe that if you add in the effect of these additional activities, the impact on the local economy is a good deal greater than the 70% advantage found in the Andersonville study. Many customers attending Book Passage author events (of which there are about 500 per year) come from a considerable distance, and while they are here they dine at local restaurants and shop at nearby stores. The same is true of people that come for book groups, attend classes, or come to the store for a community meeting. Author events at outside locations often generate revenue for other local businesses. The Book Passage Cooks with Books program fills the local Left Bank restaurant and sometimes other restaurants with customers. During Book Passage writing conferences teachers and students are housed at local hotels for a period of up to five days at a time.
Here is a partial list of local firms and institutions with which we do business:
Bank of Marin (all business banking)
Hospice of Marin (joint book sales)
Marin Literacy Project (fund-raising events)
Ross Valley Pharmacy (book deliveries through "BP to Go")
Left Bank Restaurant (Cooks with Books dinners and conference dinners)
Ideal Stationers (office supplies)
Redwood Security (alarm system)
Allen Heating (heating and air conditioning)
Lark Creek Inn (author events and meetings)
Woodlands Market
Paradise Market
Ram Insta-Print
Corbett's Hardware
Photosprint (photography)
Corte Madera Inn (housing for conferences and classes)
Marin Suites (housing for conferences and classes)
Sakana Bistro (conference and author-event meals)
Izzy's (conference and author-event meals)
Any Mountain (joint author events)
Corporate Media (sound systems)
Sally of the Sawdust (bookshelves and display fixtures)
Brown & Brown/Dan Slane (Insurance)
Peter Lagarias (attorney)
David Tucker (architect)
Western Espresso & Tea
Mary Osborne Designs (logos, signs and graphics)
Mill Valley Services (printing)
Bill Edwards (maintenance and construction)
Marin Copier Company (photocopier maintenance)
Western Exterminator
Passport Health (flu shots)
Hannibal Electricians
Liberty Telecom (phone maintenance)
Comet Maintenance (cleaning service)
Red Robin Catering (events and conferences)
Marin Lock and Key
Passion Flowers
Kim's Orchids
Bridgeway Bagels
Marin Produce
International Pastry
Marin Foods
Paul's Bakery
Sweetmill Bakery
Woodbine Bakery
4. Where to Write
If you wish to express your concern about this, please write or send an email to the following people:
Stan Hoffman
Property Manager
100 Corte Madera Town Center
Corte Madera, CA 94925
shoffman@mmrs.com
415- 924-2961
Eric Hohmann
Madison Marquette Retail Services
660 Davis Street
San Francisco, California 94111
ehohmann@mmrs.com
415-277-6805 / 415/217-5368 Fax
Glen Rosen
Madison Marquette Retail Services
12121 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1300
Los Angeles, California 90025
grosen@mmrs.com
310-443-7500 / 310-820-2076 Fax
Jay Tashiro
Town Manager, Corte Madera
300 Tamalpais Drive
Corte Madera, CA 94925
administration@ci.corte-madera.ca.us
415-927-5050 / fax 415-927-5087
Some concerned people have also put together an emergency website with information about this issue: www.omnibusol.com/ccsib.html
We thank you very much for your interest and any help you can give.
Your Friends at Book Passage
friends@bookpassage.com
Remove yourself from future email here or reply to this message with the word 'remove' in your email message subject line.
Book Passage, Inc. 51 Tamal Vista Blvd. Corte Madera, CA 94925
This message was sent to joessandwich@hotmail.com
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