Two Months, Two ABA Programs in the Great Lakes Region

In March, the American Booksellers Association extended an invitation to Great Lakes-area independent booksellers to come together on next Tuesday, April 12, at a Booksellers Forum and Education Program at Mitchell Books in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. (See details at news.bookweb.org/read/3352.) This week, the association announced plans for a second program to be held in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) on Tuesday, May 3, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lyndhurst, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland).

All ABA and regional association members are invited to attend these programs, which include an educational component and an update on ABA programs and initiatives. Bookstore owners are encouraged to bring staff members to the events, which offer a broad perspective on how individual stores fit into the industry as a whole.

The May 3 events will include a tour of the Joseph-Beth store; the education session "Increasing Sales," presented by ABA Board member Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana; an ABACUS Workshop, conducted by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz; the Booksellers Forum; and a complimentary lunch.

The program will begin at 9:00 a.m. with registration and the store tour, followed at 10:00 a.m. by the two-hour session "Increasing Sales." This nuts-and-bolts program will focus on strategies for improving a store's profitability -- the differential between revenue and expenses. Discussion will focus on strategies for bringing more customers into the store, including the use of co-op, websites, and e-mail; selling more to customers once they are through the door; and increasing sales outside the store. Lunch will follow from noon - 12:30 p.m.

From 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m., the Booksellers Forum provides an opportunity to ask questions, express opinions, and hear from bookseller colleagues. Over the years, these forums have provided vital input that has been instrumental in shaping ABA programs and initiatives. Domnitz and Lawrence will be joined at the forum by ABA COO Oren Teicher and Board member Karl Pohrt of Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

An ABACUS Workshop will be held from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Members who bring their fiscal 2004 financial statements will receive one-on-one help in completing the 2005 ABACUS survey and will get a coupon for $50 off their next ABA dues renewal. The ABACUS study is helping all independent booksellers by establishing a standard against which individual financial results can be measured.

Joseph-Beth Booksellers is located in Legacy Village, 24519 Cedar Road, in Lyndhurst [(216) 691-7000; www.josephbeth.com]. To help finalize arrangements, booksellers planning to attend are asked to RSVP to ABA's Kristen Gilligan at [email protected]. For more information about GLBA, visit www.books-glba.org, or contact Jim Dana at (800) 745-2460 or [email protected].