Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 6, 1994 TAG: 9412060072
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CLAUDINE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Workers on Monday dabbed final touches of light gray paint inside the store, while others scrambled to stock the shelves with books. Amid the chaos, the general manager sat inside a child's playhouse, the only place she could find to interview a prospective employee.
It is the last few days before Books-A-Million, claiming to stock hundreds of thousands of volumes at discounted prices, opens Roanoke's first book superstore Friday at Crossroads Mall.
The region's other bookstore operators say they don't foresee any big changes in their businesses. Book buyers are loyal customers, they contend, and will shop in the quiet, personalized ambience of smaller bookstores instead of the 36,000-square-foot former supermarket turned book and gift outlet.
"Our stores are aimed at the 1940's homey type of atmosphere," said Brady Perdue, an owner of the Dusty Corner Bookstores in Roanoke and Salem. "The Books-A-Million is like a supermarket of books. We have spent a lot of time trying to create a certain atmosphere that people like."
The book industry is a growing market in Roanoke, said Joe Rosemond, owner of Ram's Head Book Shop in Towers Shopping Center, but there is always room for competition.
Just three days ago, he completed an addition of 750 square feet onto his store, specifically to compete with Books-A-Million. The added space will not hold additional books, but will help display those already in stock.
"We knew a couple of years ago that Books-A-Million or somebody like that was going to open up sooner or later," Rosemond said. "We thought about what we could do to fight back."
Rosemond said the superstore may be a good thing. More bookstores mean more readers, which eventually means more sales for all booksellers.
"I can see another chain coming in about 10 or 15 years from now," he said. "But I don't see two superstores making it. When they get bigger and bigger, they get weaker and weaker."
Books-A-Million's Roanoke manager, Kim Feddersen, said there is room for everyone in the market.
"We are not here to take away business," Feddersen said. "Roanoke is a big enough market for everyone to get their place."
Inside the superstore, there is a place for just about everyone.
Children can sit in a purple and red train to watch videos while their parents browse through the hundreds of thousands of books, magazines and newspapers.
Environmentalists can shop in the nature store and buy fossils and minerals or tiny statues of giraffes and zebras. Collectors will find rare baseball cards. Cooks can shop in the extensive cookbook collection.
The store also touts listening centers for recorded books and CDs. There is a museum store with artwork and a travel section with books geared specifically to Roanoke.
Perdue and Rosemond say that such specialized book sections and electronics will not replace the good old corner bookstore offering personal services such as special orders.
But Books-A-Million contends it provides some of the same services as local stores. Smaller stores will place special orders for rare or hard-to-find books; Books-A-Million will order any book that is still in print.
The store offers an atmosphere where people are encouraged to pick up a book and read, listen to music or just relax in an easy chair.
"People want a place where they could go and get a cup of coffee and read a newspaper," Feddersen said. "It's a big store that is still comfortable."
by CNB