Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/109754
R E T A I L I N G T O D A Y Who's afraid of e-books? HALFPRICE BOOKS IS OPENING STORES AS FAST AS RIVALS ARE CLOSING THEM By Beth Mattson-Teig T HERE IS NOTHING HALFWAY about the growth of Half Price Books. In an age of keen competition from digital media and online booksellers, this Dallas-based, old-school bookstore chain keeps adding stores, markets and customers. Half Price Books, established in 1972, is today the largest family-owned bookstore chain in the country, employing nearly 3,000 workers and posting some $235 million in revenues in its latest fiscal year, up 2.2 percent from the year before. Books are the core part of the chain's business, but it also sells music, video games and movies. The company also buys and resells ereaders, though it does not sell e-books, as do its mainstream rivals, nor does it currently plan to sell any. Even so, Half Price Books, which currently operates 115 stores across 16 states, does have plans for physical expansion. The company opened a new store in Cleveland in January, and one in Louisville, Ky., in February, and is set to open one in Algonquin, Ill., next month. Such growth for a non-giant, value-model book chain would be notable in a normal economy; in today's difficult environment, given the popularity of e-books and some serious competition from online booksellers, it is remarkable. Factoring in that cur- rent conditions proved too tough for the likes of Borders, which was forced to file for bankruptcy protection and liquidate, the growth of Half Price Books appears positively miraculous. Then again, any comparisons with competitors would not be strictly analo- gous, some say. "I think we are a different concept, just like a T.J.Maxx is different from a Macy's or a Neiman's," said Kathy Doyle Thomas, executive vice president of Half Price Books. A key part of the company's business model is the buying and reselling of items direct from the public, which generates a stream of repeat customers. "Since we buy from the public, we also have a unique inventory and a great cost of goods, which really does help us," said Doyle Thomas. As is customary among other book chains, Half Price Books is hospitable to browsers. Maybe three out of 10 shoppers have no idea what they might want when they first come through the door, Doyle Thomas speculates. A Half Price Books customer typically buys nearly 40 books per year, according to internal data, three times the number that a typical Barnes & Noble customer buys. "At our price point, they are able to pick up books and learn new hobbies, or they pick up an extra [James] M ARC H 2 013 / SCT 21