And Why Does The Book Frog Need Help?
Pete and I opened The Book Frog in the wake of the closing of Borders, the book superstore where we had both worked. We loved working for Borders for most of our many years there--a combined total of...well, let's just say it's more than thirty years and less than fifty. When our beloved Borders closed we decided to open our own bookstore.We knew all about books and we knew all about selling books, but we didn't know anything about actually opening a business. For example, at the most basic level, where do you get the money to open a business? Well, not from the bank, that's for sure. You get money from investors--but where do you find them? Nowadays you launch a crowdfunding campaign, but two and a half years ago such things were in their infancy, and we knew nothing about them. We did find one angel, who literally walked into Pete's store on its very last day in existence and promised us a very large sum of money. The caveat: the bookstore needed to remain on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The problem: our angel gave us about a third of the money we needed to do the job properly.
We decided to plow ahead, and despite our lack of funds we did do one thing right: we used our Borders connections to obtain fixtures and our opening inventory at rock bottom prices. Unfortunately, although the inventory we purchased at liquidation allowed us to sort-of-kind-of fill our shelves, it wasn't enough, and it wasn't the quality of inventory we needed to be considered a great bookstore.
We've been working for the last two years to build that inventory (allowing other things to fall by the wayside in the process) and become a true destination store. But now we're facing a huge challenge--in addition to our cash flow issues--which makes it even more important than ever for us to become a destination store. As you are probably aware, the Promenade on the Peninsula mall in which we're located has been losing retail business at an alarming rate; so fast, in fact, that they're lobbying to fill empty retail spaces with offices. In theory, this sounds like it might be a nice coexistence, but in reality what brings retail traffic into malls is retail stores.
We know, with every fiber of our beings, that with the right mix of inventory--having on hand most of the books that people want and a healthy selection of books for them to discover, and having great bookish gifts and sidelines such as booklights, cards, and journals--we will be a destination in our own right and won't have to worry about the foot traffic that the mall might bring in.
Would you like to help? The most important way for you to help keep The Book Frog on the hill is to shop at our store. We know--we are so painfully aware!--that we don't always have what you want in stock. We know--it's excruciating to us!--that we don't always get your orders in a timely fashion. But if you'll stick with us we'll overcome and move beyond this issue.
Do you know how else you can help? We're running a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, and by donating here you'll be helping us to stock our shelves with the books you want. You can also help us tremendously by spreading the word. Share our link on Facebook, on Twitter, on Google Plus. Email our link to your friends, family, coworkers, professors, classmates...pretty much anyone you can think of. And hey--when you do share, could you be sure to tell everybody why it's so important to have independent bookstores? And tell them why, even if they don't live in the community in which our store is located, it's still in everyone's best interest to have as many bookstores around the country as possible.
Young Adult author John Green says about paying taxes for public education: "...you need to remember that school is not about you. Schools do not exist for the benefit of you or the benefit of your parents; schools exist for the benefit of me. The reason I pay taxes for schools even though I don't have a kid in school is that I am better off in a well-educated world..."
We kind of feel the same way about independent bookstores: we're all better off in a world with as many indies as possible.
Thanks for helping us to get the word out. Thanks for shopping at The Book Frog. Thanks for contributing to our crowdfunding campaign. And please--keep on reading!
