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| Bookends and Beginnings gift shop, one of a series of local postcards by Jeff Garrett. | |
In January, Bookends & Beginnings in Evanston, Ill., opened a second space devoted entirely to gifts, stationery and other nonbook items. The extra location has allowed owner Nina Barrett and her team to greatly expand their nonbook offerings.
The stores do well with both boxed cards and greeting cards. For boxed cards, there's "lots of great stuff from Chronicle," including Princeton Architectural Press, Galison and Laurence King; the bookstore also started carrying Caspari recently. For greeting cards, some "tried and true bestsellers" come from suppliers like Sacred Bee, Calypso, The Bower Studio and Sad Shop, while newer additions include Pedaller Designs and Modern Wit.
Barrett remarked that she had "tried for a long time to find local postcards with Evanston scenes and I couldn't," so she finally sent her husband, Jeff Garrett, to take photos. He created a line of local postcards that are "selling like hotcakes, both individually and as a boxed set." The store has also had success with notecards featuring his photos of Lake Michigan.
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| Candles from Fly Paper Products. | |
She added that her card buyer "wishes we could find more gender-neutral and gender-nonconforming cards, especially for love, marriage and general relationships," noting that "often it's artwork that makes the card inappropriate for a situation."
For the first time in seven years of operation, Bookends & Beginnings now carries bookends. The store stocks a "clever line" from The Literary Gift Company, as well as inexpensive, lightweight bookends from If USA that Barrett said are "great for students." Other strong sellers recently include candles from Fly Paper Products and literary teas from Simpson & Vail.
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| Sidelines on display at Schuler Books | |
Beth Boyink, gift buyer for Schuler Books in Grand Rapids and Okemos, Mich., reported that children's at-home learning products have been very popular recently, especially Eeboo games, developmental toys by Fat Brain Toys, workbooks from School Zone and sensory bins by Creativity for Kids.
Puzzles have been strong throughout the pandemic; some preferred suppliers include Galison, White Mountain Puzzle, Pomegranate and Phil Stagg Puzzles. Art supplies by Ooly and office products from a variety of suppliers also continue to perform well. Asked about any new or unusual sidelines, Boyink pointed to Go Pops from Fox Mind and Poptastic from Streamline, which she called "the new fidget spinners."
On the subject of local vendors, Boyink explained that with fall travel still restricted, customers are taking more in-state trips and want products that reflect their recent travels. Examples include candles by Kalamazoo Candle Co., Phil Stagg puzzles and Cellar Door Soap & Candles.
Reflecting on how the pandemic has affected customers' buying habits, Boyink said the store is still seeing "very strong sales" in products that were selling well at the beginning of the pandemic, such as the aforementioned puzzles, games, art supplies and children's activities. Food store items, such as Food Huggers, has been a surprising new trend, and with "people wanting to connect more," boxed stationery has seen increased sales.
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| Gifts and cards at Napa Bookmine. | |
At Napa Bookmine in Napa, Calif., co-founder and manager Naomi Chamblin and her team have "doubled down" on the store's Blue Q inventory, expanding their offerings of dish towels, oven mitts, totes and coin purses. They've also brought in more vinyl stickers from Turtle's Soup, I Must Draw, Noristudio and Seltzer Goods, and "people are loving them."
At the same time Napa Bookmine has expanded its "Napa Valley offerings" by bringing in things like custom dish towels from doodles.ink, Napa Valley map totes from Gooseberry Designs, and stemless wine glasses and mugs from Mercantile 12, which are all made in the San Francisco Bay Area.
She added that stuffed toys from Jellycat, particularly the food items, and plush from Douglas have been doing "phenomenally well," but sourcing them can be "hit or miss." For those items, Chamblin and the team "just give our reps a budget and they put an order together for us, because when we try to order specific items, so much is out of stock."
Chamblin noted that "people appreciate humor more than ever" at the moment, and small humor books such as Pet This F*cking Puppy: A Touch-and-Feel Book for Stressed Out Adults (Universe), continue to do well. --Alex Mutter