The last Saturday in April each year is set aside for independent bookstores across the country. The Book Tavern, located in the J.B. White’s Building downtown, is participating as always, and owner David Hutchison laid out his plans for April 24 and other ways to support one of Augusta’s local bookseller mainstays.
“In the past, I’ve always tried to do things like have gatherings and food,” Hutchison said. “Due to COVID-19, it seems like right now the risks are so high that we’ve backed away from that. There will still be several promotions and specials in-store.”
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The American Booksellers’ Association (ABA) is the current steward of Independent Bookstore Day (IBD). It coordinates with publishers to procure exclusive merchandise for independent booksellers.
“It’s always been a fun day, and the exclusives are big draws,” Hutchison said. “The IBD website will list some of their exclusives for people to peruse beforehand.”
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One example is a book by Stephen King and his son, Joe Hill, that will only be for sale in independent booksellers on IBD, he said.
Hutchison is glad for the support the day inherently brings, but he added it’s not just a day to boost sales.
“It’s not just a shopping holiday, really,” Hutchison said. “It’s like a way of reminding people to support your local book shop.”
All hands will be on deck, the owner said, and the employees can put their full weight behind talking about books and recommending books to interested customers.
“My eventual goal for the business would be to have good, full-time positions available for people where they can make a living wage,” Hutchison said. “So in the end, we need a lot of growth, which makes Independent Bookstore Day not just about us, but our customers too.”
When asked how customers could support the business besides just showing up on IBD to buy books, Hutchison first brought up the surprise care packages the bookstore put together during the height of the pandemic last year.
It was a program that involved a customer spending a set amount and receiving a mix of books related to a particular genre or author they liked. March and May of 2020 were two of Hutchison’s worst months ever, but he said that April, when the care packages were at their height, was the biggest April he’d ever had in terms of the number of orders.
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“What’s interesting to me is that people don’t know they can still get a care package,” Hutchison said. “It’s still there, and you can still buy it. Just go to the website, and it’s still available.”
He also praised locally-based Showpony’s “We Give A Shirt” campaign, which designed dozens of shirts for businesses all across Augusta in order to boost their bottom lines throughout COVID-19’s 2020 lockdown.
“That’s one of the reasons we survived the pandemic was tremendous assistance from a number of sources. And it made it so we not only survived the pandemic, but we’ve actually been growing,” Hutchison said. “And we don’t want to be a charity. Our number one goal is always ‘Come buy books.’ If you got $100 bucks to blow, come blow it on books. And give those books to someone else, even if you can’t read them yourself.”
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Hutchison talked about the importance of face-to-face engagement, and with his goal of growth and having more employees, customers will have even more perspectives and recommendations available to them when they visit.
“People that support us put a value on the experience of coming here. It goes beyond the physical items that they get in return,” Hutchison said. “And that’s a big thing about Independent Bookstore Day. Come down and explore the store. The experience is what it’s all about.”
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com.
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