Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 7, 1994 TAG: 9404070157
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
On the other hand, if a book comes in that she or her employees think a particular customer would like, they'll recommend it. Many of their customers have been coming in for years and are familiar faces.
The Rosemonds have run their store successfully for 30 years by being different from the major chains. They offer personal service, and although their business methods may seem old-fashioned, the Rosemonds get the job done.
For instance, unlike the big chains, the Rosemonds don't keep their inventory on computer. One reason, they said, is that computers are not a strong point with either of them. Another reason is that when a customer calls asking for a book, the clerk must go to the shelves to look for it. This system has the advantage of making sure the book really is available, and also of ensuring that every employee is familiar with where everything is.
A clerk's help often is necessary because although they have tried to label each section by subject, Lolly said, these days, there are just too many categories to make it work. But there are separate rooms devoted to mysteries, travel and cookbooks, and the children's section is almost as large as the main store.
Despite the variety of books, the store doesn't stock everything. But what they don't have, they can order, Lolly said, and the books usually arrive within a week.
Now that many of the publishers' warehouses have moved out of New York, it's easier to order books, John said. In the old days, it might have taken a month for a book to arrive.
Because Lolly is a former teacher, the store is very involved with the education community. The store employs a school coordinator, who organizes several book fairs each year; and school systems from as far away as Pulaski and Carroll counties place book orders through Ram's Head. These are services the bigger stores usually "don't want to fool with," Lolly said.
There are some books they deliberately don't stock, however. Any romance novel with a picture of a man and a woman locked in an embrace on the cover is automatically out, Lolly said. "They just don't seem to appeal to our clientele. We leave that market to the chain stores and the drugstores."
The Rosemonds have three full-time and six part-time workers on staff.
"We have some really great employees," Lolly said. Being a reader and knowing something about books is a requirement for employment. This way, the clerks are able to make recommendations, especially in the children's area, where it's often difficult for customers to determine the age level of a particular book.
The Rosemonds are not Roanoke natives. John, 57, is from Chapel Hill, N.C., and Lolly, 59, is originally from New Orleans. They met in the early 1960s while both were working at Ferrum College - she as an English professor and he in the business office.
John's father ran his own business, Lolly said, and "we always had it in the backs of our minds" to do the same.
There was a definite need for another bookstore in Roanoke at the time, John said. None of the existing stores was open at night, and if Lolly wanted to buy books for her classes, she had to do it on visits to North Carolina.
So the couple moved to Roanoke and opened their shop. Lolly worked as a teacher at North Cross School for the first few years to help support the family.
"We started on a shoestring," Lolly said - something that would be impossible now.
"The amount of books you have to have today is unbelievable," John explained.
Although they occasionally have considered moving from Towers Mall, they've always decided against it.
"Everyone has to know we're here by now," John said, and it has proved to be a good location.
The store has expanded so that it occupies two additional spaces as well as the hallway outside the main store.
It's difficult for the staff to watch every area, but there is very little theft. Mall security is excellent, John said.
The only problem they've had is one Lolly said all bookstores share - when the expensive boxed Bibles are displayed in the back of the store, they tend to disappear. Moving them to the front stopped the thefts she said.
The major chain stores have been in Roanoke since the 1970s, but they began having an impact on business at Ram's Head about 10 years ago. When they and Books, Strings & Things - also independently owned - opened, the Rosemonds noticed slight drops in business, which lasted only a few months. The regulars keep coming back, Lolly said.
The book-selling business seems to be insulated from economic problems, John said. During the latest recession, "our business turned around quicker than the economy did."
Over the years, the book-buying public's taste has changed, too. Currently, John said, the novel is making a comeback after seven or eight years of strong sales of nonfiction. And despite rumors that children are reading less, more children's books are being sold and published than ever before. Schools are beginning to use novels to teach subjects such as history, Lolly said.
The market for books on tape "has just exploded," John said, and self-help books also are enormously popular. Some readers are forming book discussion groups in their homes.
The chain stores "have driven a lot of people out of business," John said, and it's possible that someday, if the market gets more competitive, Ram's Head could be among them. But for now, he said, "I'm very thankful for the people who will not go to the chains."
Ram's Head is in Towers Shopping Center. The phone number is 344-1237.
by CNB