What does locally owned and fiercely independent actually mean?

By Annie on Mar 18, 2010 | Add a Comment

What does locally owned and fiercely independent actually mean?   Bank Square Books is owned by two women who live in Stonington, Annie Philbrick and Patience Banister.  We make all the major business decisions without having to present our case to a Board of Directors.  We live so close that riding a bike to work is our first choice.  Fiercely independent describes how we are trying to maintain our independence as a community bookstore in a world of big box corporations like Barnes and Noble, Borders and Amazon.  Bank Square Book’s first loyalty is to our customer, providing reading suggestions, travel information, staff picks, frequent buyer programs and author events.  So many independent bookstores have been forced out of business by the big box stores that independent bookstores are nearly a thing of the past.  Recently some Border stores have closed, which means that since they already drove the independents out of business that in their own demise the town no longer has a bookstore. 
What does this mean for reading books?  Are customers going to turn to a Kindle or iPad and read only eBooks?  I doubt it.  Surely there will be a percentage of people who prefer these electronic devices with larger fonts and improved lighting.  Bank Square Books will keep up with the demand and offer eBooks at a competitive price to customers in the future.  Yet, I wonder if parents who love to read to their kids at night will find as much enjoyment in this activity on their Kindle? How are the color illustrations of Jan Brett on a Kindle?  An independent bookstore can rarely, if ever, compete with the discounts Amazon can offer; but we can provide a personal interaction with the customer and sometimes deliver books locally on the same day with no shipping charges.  In this world of email, Facebook and Twitter there is definitely a high value placed on actually talking to a person, especially a knowledgeable bookseller of which there are many in every independent bookstore.  Why would anyone want to work in a bookstore where the only pension plan may only be really good coffee and a lifetime supply of advanced reader copies if they did not have a great love of books and reading?  On my Goodreads site (www.goodreads.com) I list 141 books read in the past year and 20 more to read.  And I love to talk passionately and in depth about each one, and I am not unique among independent booksellers in this respect.
Currently, for publishers eBooks account for about 3% of the book sales and independent bookstores about 5-6%.  However, independents are closer to 12-15% if their wholesale orders are taken into account.  For example, Bank Square Books orders new titles (and some backlist) directly from the major publishers like Penguin, Harper Collins and Hachette, to name a few.  Almost each day, Bank Square Books also orders from wholesalers such as Ingram, Baker and Taylor  and Bookazine who make sure that available books are delivered the next day.  Therefore, we can satisfy customer’s special orders quite quickly.  If you add these wholesale orders to the direct publisher orders, independent sales could very likely be up around 12-15 %. For major publishers, some who are also trying to figure out how to maintain their way in the electronic book world, this is not a small impact.
More and more we find that customers are trying to “shop locally and independently”.  During the Christmas season we heard many comments from people who were doing all their holiday shopping  in Mystic.  Not only is Bank Square Books a general bookstore, but we are also a pillar in the community.  Last May we spearheaded a movement to form an independent business alliance called Southeastern Alliance, A Wave of Local Independent Businesses (www.southeasternalliance.org) and hope to have 100 members by the close of 2010.  SEA’s mission is to educate our communities about the value of choosing locally owned and independent businesses first.  If you spend $100 at a local store, $68 of that stays within your community.  If you spend $100 at Borders, only $43 of that remains in your community. 
Please shop locally and independently. Make that conscious decision to walk down Main Street and purchase from your local merchant rather than driving to a national chain or ordering on line.  Not only will you feel better about your decision, your community will thank you.  Such a decision will help ensure that your community will remain vibrant and healthy.  Sure it may be easier to sit at your computer or on your iPhone, but you certainly will not be provided with the personal service and smile that you will get at Bank Square Books.