East Cobb bookstore’s longevity due to ‘reinventing yourself’

Bookmiser, East Cobb bookstore
The Bookmiser store in East Cobb carries an ample supply of literary and popular fiction and has authors’ events. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)

When Annell Gerson and her husband Jim opened their first Bookmiser bookstore in Roswell in 1998, Borders was the chief competition.

That was three years after Amazon, then a little-known Seattle company, was modestly selling books online. As the Gersons expanded to open an East Cobb location on Roswell Road, the book industry would undergo profound changes.

By the time Borders went out of business in 2011 (including a store at The Avenue East Cobb), Amazon had become not just a virtual bookselling colossus but a dominant force in the online retail world.

“You just keep morphing, you just keep reinventing yourself,” said Annell Gerson on Small Business Saturday, referring to Bookmiser’s sustainability amid the changes.

It was nine years ago that American Express came up with the Small Business Saturday promotion to help small, independent retailers in the wake of Black Friday at the start of the holiday shopping season.

Bookmiser has taken part each year, and takes part in Independent Bookstore Day, the last Saturday in April. The Small Business Saturday logo adorns the store’s website, and a floor mat is situated at the checkout counter.

Gerson says the promotions are good for raising awareness long-term more than prompting same-day sales, but every little bit helps.

What started exclusively as a used bookstore with a trading program has expanded into providing required reading materials for school classes, New York Times bestsellers, special orders and authors’ events.

Every book is sold at a 20 percent discount, used or new, without any membership requirements. Bookmiser customers also get further discounts and sales offerings via the store’s e-mail newsletter, which included 25 percent off all this weekend.

“As a bookstore, you have to establish relationships with people,” Gerson said. “We know exactly what they like to read.”

The store at 3822 Roswell Road (at the eastern intersection of Robinson Road) includes a wide variety of literary and popular fiction. Many of the featured authors are what Gerson refers to as “women’s fiction,” and events at the Milton and Sandy Springs libraries feature local and national authors.

Bookmiser
New and bestselling books by featured authors are displayed in the front of the store.

Gerson said several years ago, as she was doing an event with former Congressman Tom Price, she counted up the number of bookstores in and around his north metro Atlanta base that had closed in recent years.

“Twenty-two,” she said.

Even with a focus on customer service (1-2 days for special orders to arrive, no delivery charges) and special event, the competitive challenges for indie bookstores have grown. While Bookmiser is located in an affluent, well-educated community, that’s not necessarily an advantage.

“It’s so easy to push the button,” she said, referring to Amazon. “It’s a David and Goliath story every day.”

Unlike Amazon and other online sellers, “we pay property tax. We pay school tax. We pay for air conditioning.”

And Bookmiser, like many small and independent businesses, chips in to partner with community organizations, including the Walton volleyball and baseball programs, Dance Stop, the Chattahoochee Nature Center and Curing Kids’ Cancer.

Bookmiser also took part in helping run the Milton Literary Festival until this year’s event. Last year, the Gersons closed the Roswell store (located on Sandy Plains Road near the Sandy Plains Village shopping center), and donated the last of its stock to the Friends of the Milton Library.

In 2016, Half-Price Books opened in East Cobb at the Woodlawn Square Shopping Center. While other indie book stores exist in East Cobb at the Book Exchange and the Book Nook, another used-bookstore, Once and Again Books, closed last year on Shallowford Road.

Gerson said continuing to adapt to the retail book market and customer demands are imperative. Starting in 2020, Bookmiser will gradually increase its new book stock to take up about half of the store.

“That’s what we’re seeing the community wants,” she said of the growing demand for new books. “And they want it now.”

Bookmiser is open from 10-7 Monday-Friday, 10-6 Saturday and 12-5 Sunday. Phone: (770) 509-5611.

Bookmiser

 

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East Cobb Weekend Events: The Nutcracker, Small Business Saturday, holiday events and more

Georgia Metropolitan Dance Theatre, The Nutcracker

The holiday season is here, and on the first weekend there couldn’t be a more festive way to get it started than with a community rendition of “The Nutcracker.”

The Georgia Metropolitan Dance Theatre is staging the event Thursday through Sunday at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre at the Cobb Civic Center (548 S. Marietta Parkway). The show times are as follows:

  • Friday, Nov. 23  at 7:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, Nov. 24 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, Nov. 25th at 2 p.m.

As we noted earlier, more than 150 local dancers have been selected and have been getting ready the Georgia Dance Conservatory on the Marietta Square. Tickets are $10 to $30. For information visit: www.georgiametrodance.tix.com.

On Saturday, Small Business Saturday is being observed around the country, including in East Cobb, and it’s a good way to keep your holiday shopping dollars local, which in turn helps strengthen the community. Some businesses are extending their sales throughout the weekend and beyond.

School’s been out this week, but if your child needs some extra tutoring as the Thanksgiving weekend break comes to an end, stop by the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road) on Saturday between 2:30-4:30 p.m. for free 30-minute tutoring lessons.

The library is partnering with mentors from Walton, Wheeler and The Westminster Schools for students K-8 in math, science and reading. While registration is required, there may be walk-up space available by calling 770-509-2730.

Holiday arts and festivals will resume next week, but the Good Mews Holiday Decor Market continues at the Sandy Plains Exchange Shopping Center (1860 Sandy Plains Road) from 10-5 Saturday and 12-5 Sunday.

Check our full calendar listings for more things to do in East Cobb this weekend, and beyond.

Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar item you’d like to share with the community? Send it to us, and we’ll spread the word! E-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and you can include a photo or flyer if you like.

Whatever you’re doing this weekend, make it a great one! Enjoy!

 

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East Cobb Biz Notes: Drift Fish House and Oyster Bar open for lunch; Small Business Saturday and more

Drift Fish House and Oyster Bar

Earlier this month Drift Fish House and Oyster Bar began serving lunch on weekdays. The hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday and the menu features features salads, sandwiches, starters, cold bar items and selected desserts from the dinner menu.

Doug Turbush, who owns Seed and Stem Wine Bar at Merchants Walk, opened Drift at The Avenue East Cobb (4475 Roswell Road) in March 2016.

Small Business Saturday

The annual Small Business Saturday promotion is taking place again this coming Saturday, and among the newer East Cobb businesses taking part is Nancy’s Vintage Shop (1050 E. Piedmont Road, Suite 102).

Owner Nancy Hartung is calling her event the Holiday Soirree, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. customers can enjoy a variety of discounts, treats and freebies. She opened her store at the Piedmont Commons Shopping Center (across from the McCleskey-East Cobb YMCA) in March, and sells clothing and collectibles from the 1960s-1990s.

Also taking part in Small Business Saturday is Bookmiser (3822 Roswell Road), which has been a longtime proponent of the Shop Small campaign.

Small Business Saturday was begun by American Express in 2010 to aid small businesses at the start of the holiday shopping season, which is typically dominated by national retailers. Its small business impact statement claims that 67 cents out of every dollar spent at a local business stays in the community.

Freaking Incan update

A few weeks back we noted that the Freaking Incan restaurant was briefly closing and relocating nearby at at the Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center.

Yesterday they announced that the new spot is opening on Dec. 1, next to the Movie Tavern, at 4651 Woodstock Road, Suite 305. The hours will be 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Stocking the Brumby ES food pantry

An update to something else we posted last week about the 5th year anniversary celebration for Honest-1 auto care on Saturday: Owner Butch Carter tells us that if you bring by a bag of donated items for the Brumby Elementary School food pantry, you’ll get a voucher for an oil change.

The festivities go from 10-4 and include hamburgers and hot dogs and raffle prizes. Carter is involved in the Rotary Club of East Cobb, which does a lot of work in the Brumby ES community.

Earlier this month MUST Ministries opened the pantry, and Carter says the items needed the most are peanut butter, jelly, canned meats, beef stew, spaghetti noodles and sauce and granola or breakfast bars.

Bring a bag of some of those items to Honest-1 (1391 East Cobb Drive), and the oil change is yours.

Tell us about your business

Do you have business news to share? We’ll post your openings and non-sales events here, including charitable activities. E-mail us at editor@eastcobbnews.com.

If you want to promote your business (including sales and specials other than grand openings), email us at advertising@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll be glad to send you a media kit.

 

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The East Cobb ‘shop local’ movement, with a touch of generosity

Challise and Company, East Cobb shop local
Shelbie Fredericks (left) and Terry Yagadics took part in Small Business Saturday at Challise and Company. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)

In one part of the Challise and Company salon on Canton Road, it’s business as usual: Haircuts and spa services.

When a visitor looks to the left upon entering, however, there are cookies and refreshments neatly laid out on a table, and vendors displaying their wares in an adjoining room.

They’re all women, and they’re all local, selling just about anything a shopper might have on a holiday gift list: Monogrammed glasses and shirts, clothing, handcrafted items and food and cooking services.

It was another Small Business Saturday at Challise and Company, which was among the East Cobb businesses taking part in a burgeoning movement to promote local shopping.

And not just for one day, or even for the holiday season, but year-round.

Ever since 2010, Small Business Saturday has been designated (ironically enough, by a big corporation, American Express) to get consumers to think, and shop local.

Coming the day after “Black Friday,” SBS, as it’s called by many, has helped raise awareness of locally-owned, independently operated business.

For owner Challise Copeland, “shop local” is more than just a one-day promotion. It’s a commitment to helping other local business owners—especially women-owned businesses—gain visibility.

East Cobb shop local
Laura Stevenson of Whimsy Girl Creations, which specializes in mongrammed goods and other handmade crafts.

“For us, it’s traffic flow,” she said. “But we really do it to help start-up business get their names out there.”

Among them is Laura Stevenson, a Northeast Cobb resident and owner of Whimsy Girl Creations, who designs handcrafted items, including a range of monogrammed goods.

Like many artisanal entrepreneurs, promoting her business, which is a couple years old, is “word of mouth. You bring something to somebody and their friends see it.”

Stevenson said that getting into larger craft fairs can be hard—she was offered a spot in last weekend’s Sprayberry PTSA Arts & Crafts Fair at the very last minute—and she often finds herself on a waiting list.

She appreciated the generosity of another business providing space and exposure, even if on a smaller scale.

Copeland, who took over what had been the Studio 5 salon in 2003, said having these kinds of events predated the advent of Small Business Saturday. She and her co-owner Carrie Cox, both of whom are active in the Northeast Cobb Business Association and the Cobb Business Women’s Association, see what they’re doing as promoting not only small business owners, but a sense of community.

“The more you can give back to the community, the better,” Copeland said.

Some newcomers also took part on Saturday: Shelbie Fredericks of Where the Willows Grow, who makes handcrafted watercolor art, and Terri Yagadics, a local fashion consultant for the LuLaRoe line of clothing.

Online-focused businesses also appreciate the chance to have a physical presence on an occasional business. One of them is run by Heather Stafford, who does social media and promotions for Challise and Company and has her own handcrafted business, GeminiRed Creations, which began as an Etsy site.

East Cobb shop local
Handcrafted items from Heather Stafford’s Gemini Red Creations.

For local consultants Cherie Beasley of Pampered Chef and Meredith Smiles of Tastefully Simple, having an appearance like this helps with their word-of-mouth promotions. They occasionally partner on events: Beasley with her in-home cooking demonstrations, and Smiles with her inventory of meal kits.

They do occasional vendor events, but smaller ones like this are also ideal for expanding their network of potential clients.

“You have to be patient to get started,” Beasley said. “But it’s not that different from having a brick and mortar store.” She said she’s reached a point where “none of my calls are cold. They’re all warm.”

The greater satisfaction, Beasley said, is helping busy clients solve meal issues.

“I’m more interested in helping you have a successful kitchen experience, with what you’ve already got.”

East Cobb shop local
Terri Yagadics started her Lula Roe fashion consulting business this spring.

 

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