bookstore « Robin Writes

Yes, I know it’s Thursday. All these snow days make for a confusing week. Or weeks.

Anyway, this will be last bookstore post—All on the Same Page Bookstore will be closing for good on Friday, February 14. Seemed appropriate. Somehow.

In late July 2011, we decided to open a bookstore. Insanity? Who knows? On October 1, we had our grand opening. Things went well until late last fall, especially the holiday season.

Again, who knows why?

Some people said it was the location—others thought we had a great spot. Some blamed Amazon—as do I, to a certain extent. Especially when people RECOMMEND going online to get books. So much for that “local” thing. We had a beautiful store, a relaxing atmosphere, coffee—everything you’d want.

Since we opened, FOUR bookstores in the area closed; one recently opened.

I feel bad that we failed, because we had a good thing going, especially for local authors who found it difficult, or impossible, to get their books on actual shelves. I feel bad for our regular customers, those who came in every week or month and for whom we frequently ordered hard-to-find titles.

And yes, I’m angry and hurt. Angry at all those clueless people who have come in the door over the last few weeks to express their regrets that we’re closing—and mention that they’ve been MEANING to come in, but never have before. Angry at the truly unobservant folks who say in surprise, “WHEN did you open??”

If each household in our little ‘burb had purchased just ONE used book each month, there would be no question of our having to close the store. ONE BOOK. Possibly, Creve Coeur should get the “most illiterate city” designation . . . Of course, we advertised: coupons, apps, online, direct mail. And we didn’t have any employees. Or salary.

The hurt part? Yeah, that too. All the “save” this or that bookstore over the last year . . . four authors whose books we carried either entered our “not a raffle” or purchased a membership. Four. Three others in the STL area did the either/or. Three.

Not feelin’ the love, here.

Oh, and that big ad that James Patterson took out last year, about helping bookstores? No updates, and I signed up twice and messaged him twice. Thanks, Mr. Patterson. Guess I don’t have to worry about recognizing you if you ever show up at the bookstore—we won’t be there. Nice publicity stunt, though.

So, to everyone reading this who might be a little ticked off—sorry, and you’re welcome. We really did enjoy carrying your books and recommending them to customers, and having you come in to do signings and events. Truly. It was fun while it lasted, but it’s over now.

So, yeah, today’s the day, I guess, that I officially announce that All on the Same Page Bookstore is closing. It’s not really news, we’ve been heading that direction for a while—December sales were just 50% of last year’s.

Let’s examine this, um, social experiment, shall we?

We took no salary, so no worries there; we had no employees. Our rent wasn’t ridiculous, our expenses pretty minimal for a business, utilities, Internet, and so forth. Our location wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t horrible, either.

Maybe I just suck at this. Maybe.

Or—and here’s where I start grumbling and griping about everything. Or everyone. Or should I be professional until the end? Hmmm.

Sure, I’m upset and sad about closing down the bookstore. We’ve been there two and a half years, after all. We put a lot of time and money into it. And a lot of heart.

But I’m pretty irritated right now. Won’t lie.

We decided NOT to do a crowd-funding project on the regular sites; after all, there was a campaign for Main Street Books a few weeks ago and two of them for The Book House since last summer. I know. I was pretty involved with those last two.

But we did our own thing, and we raised almost $2000. Not enough, sadly. And you know what? Everyone talks all the time about “local” this and that, but only half of that came from any local peeps—three locals, to be exact. The rest was from around the country AND OVERSEAS. Seriously.

Oh, I could go on and on, but I won’t. Someone will yell at me and I don’t like to be yelled at—in spite of all that, I do own the business, and I own the fact that we failed. Just can’t help but think hardly anyone gives a damn. Maybe I’ll think differently later. Maybe not.

Watching a funding campaign from, in effect, a grocery store, raise $30K in one day didn’t help, either. Sure, people have to eat, I get that. But still.

WARNING—AMAZON GRIPE SESSION ALERT!

So the next time you go to Amazon to buy your books or, worse yet, use their cutesy little share button to promote the fact that you really DON’T care about the “local” stuff, think about all the bookstores that are going under because you have to have that book RIGHT THIS MINUTE and can’t be bothered to walk out the door and go into an actual bookstore once in a while.

We’re far from alone. Since we opened, FOUR independent bookstores around the area have closed.

Well, then. If you’re still with me, I wanted to let you know that we’ve starting closing out our stock—all used paperbacks are $1.50, used hardcovers are $2.50. We have some new books too, at half-price. Author consignment books, however, are full price. At least until the authors come and pick them up. Which is okay now, since we’re closing anyway . . .

So long, and thanks for all the fish!