A Holiday Letter From ABA CEO Oren Teicher

Dear Booksellers:

As the holiday countdown continues — and everyone is busy in their stores — I want to send warm holiday greetings to all member booksellers from all of us at the American Booksellers Association. From the data we see, I know that things are humming in your stores, and that nationally sales have recovered from the slower period most stores experienced leading up to the election. At this writing, it appears that we’ll end the year on a positive note, with a nearly five percent sales increase in 2016 over 2015. As always, we know every store isn’t seeing higher sales, but nationally the numbers are good.

I can also report that the resurgence in indie bookstores continued in 2016. We’ll end the year with a bunch of new store openings, existing stores expanding to additional locations, and a record number of successful transfers of stores to new owners. I was thrilled to have been able to attend the grand opening of Print: A Bookstore in Portland, Maine, earlier this month. It was one of those magical bookselling nights, with an entire community coming together to celebrate the opening of a new bookstore. This has also been a year that marked multiple bookstore anniversaries, with numerous stores celebrating 25, 35, 40, and even 50 years in business. I can’t tell you how exhilarating it is to witness new store openings, or to participate in anniversary celebrations.

It would be disingenuous not to acknowledge that the 2016 election revealed bitter divisions within American society, but, as I said back in November, bookstores can play a unique role in bringing people together. Reading about the many things that indie booksellers have done in the weeks following the election is clear evidence of the indispensable role you play in your communities. I know you’ll keep that up in 2017.

At ABA, we’re going to continue our efforts to raise awareness about the ever-increasing negative impact that Amazon is having on the overall U.S. economy. I appreciate that it was released while booksellers were busy in their stores, but I want to strongly encourage you to read a new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance — written by Olivia LaVecchia and Stacy Mitchell — about how Amazon’s tightening grip on the economy is stifling competition, eroding jobs, and threatening communities. It’s well worth your attention.

All of us at ABA are working hard to put the final touches on the upcoming Winter Institute, being held in Minneapolis from January 27–30 — and many thanks to all the booksellers who have helped us. We are looking forward to seeing a record number of you there, as well as more publishers and authors. And, for those of you unable to attend, we will be experimenting with making some of the educational sessions available as webinars in the months following the Institute. Watch Bookselling This Week for further information about that.

By the time you’ll be reading this, I’ll have spent a few days selling books at Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s always one of the highlights of my year to work in a member bookstore just before the holidays. I want to thank Ann, Karen, and the entire Parnassus team for making me feel so welcome. If anyone doubts the long-term viability of indie bookstores, all I can say is, go and hang out at Parnassus Books for a few days.

I hope these last days leading up to the holidays are filled with lots of customers — and strong sales — and, after the dust settles, that everyone will have a good holiday with family and friends.

Warmest regards,

Oren Teicher
CEO, American Booksellers Association