A Change In Retail?
September 14, 2017 09:18 Rants & Rulings | Book signings
Major changes are happening right in front of us — can you see then?
We are very concerned about trends and changes in the retail world especially regarding book sales. When I was driving recently, I heard Glenn Beck talking about the major changes in retail, banking, and tastes and thought this sums up what I was thinking.
1. Traditional isn’t happening anymore. Stores, publishers, and manufacturers have to take notice that tastes are changing, money is not flowing, and people are not going out to stores.
2. An unusual number of stores are closing: restaurants, gifts shops, department stores, grocery stores, chain stores, bookstores, and more. Why are they closing? Corporate bigwigs are finding they need to downsize, mom and pop stores can’t make it, and other factors may cause a store to find a new location.
3. Are more people shopping online? Yes they are. So if you don’t have a great e-commerce store you are going to be left out in the cold. But strangely, e-books are not doing well. People still like a real book when they buy a book.
4. People want new and different which is making manufacturers re-invent their products. Those new products also die quickly. People have a limited interest.
5. And most disturbing, people are not spending as much money and not buying what they used to get. Frankly, people are not going to a lot of the events they used to go to either.
The holiday buying season will be a big indicator of the new trend. Are people buying as much or are they laying low? Are people spending money on things they have to buy like mortgage, food, and insurance – the costs of these things going up – and there is less money to spend on new things? Where are your products situated for the holiday buying season?
Barbe Awalt
UPCOMING CALENDAR:
RIO GRANDE BOOKSNov 12: 4th Annual Albuquerque Balloon Museum Arts & Crafts Fair, 9am to 5pm
HENRIETTA CHRISTMAS & PAUL RHETTS ("The Basic Genealogy Checklist")
Dec 9: Los Lunas Public Library, 10am
January 6: Hispanic Genealogy Research Center at National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, 10am
January 9: El Castillo Living Center, Santa Fe, NM, 7pm
NASARIO GARCIA ("Grandpa Lolo's Matanza")
Sept 9: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
RILEY MITCHELL ("The Essential Paranormal Bucket List")
Oct 30: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
SLIM RANDLES ("The Fly Fisherman's Bucket List")
Nov 9: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
JOSEPH SANCHEZ ("Historic Route 66")
Sept 16: Special Collections Library, 423 Central Ave NE, 10am-12noon
Oct 7: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 18: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 3pm
JOHN TAYLOR & RICHARD MELZER ("Tragic Trails & Enchanted Journeys" & "Captain Maximiliano Luna")
Nov 11: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 16: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
ROBERT TORREZ ("Voices from the Past")
Nov 4: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 30: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
ROSS VAN DUSEN ("What Makes the Lightning?", "How the Crocka Dog Came to Be"; and "Lyle Got Stuck in a Tree")
Oct 28: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Dec 1: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 6pm