fairouz mm
i have this place in my area which is realy spacious, and i want very much to open a Read in Book Shop in it with a coffe & small snaks service but i found that there is a simillir place which opend a year a go not close but in the same area i'm trying to come up with ideas to differentiate my book shop (buying & exechanging old books, special order for newspapers and magazines to buy or just to read in, story hour for childeren,..) can u please give me new ideas to make it differant.

Also could u please give me other ideas for any shop.

thanks

Make sure that in addition to differentiating yourself you are also finding ways to bring in dollars. I found in my shop that it could get TOO comfortable sometimes. The customers loved to come in and hang out for hours- which is what I wanted-- but if they only purchased a cup of coffee and stayed for 4 hours... well... something has to bring in sales. We had to really focus on special events and tie-ins with our gift shop so that we could grab more $$ from the groups that liked to just come and hang out. Don't get me wrong, it is great to have the kind of store that makes people so comfortable, but you have to find dollars in there as well in order to keep it runnning! Things that brought in people & sales were special events/classes for kids, guest authors and readings, charity functions, food focused events and trunk shows.

Hi,
yes I know what u mean this my biggest concern because u see I want my place to be cozy, I don't want the customers come in group unless they just buy and take coffee and leave without disturbing the reading-in customers, so these some of my concerns:

* How do I charge the read-in customers (not buying a book just reading-in) especially if they did not ordered coffee or just have one and set there all day!!! (by book, by hour, ...?)
* How can I make the groups to stay less (hopefully after one coffee serving) and not to disturb the reading-in customers.
* if the customer buy a new book and wants to read-in without ordering a coffee, should I let him. (I have old books to read-in or/and buy, and new books to just buy then they can read it in)

I've been thinking about your various challenges, and I keep coming back to the layout of your shop. I think that you can guide your customers to act the way you want them to by where you place them in your store.

For groups, consider have a special area for them. Maybe take sign-ups for book clubs to meet in a designated group area. In other areas of the shop, don't put the seating in groups, just have places for single people to read.

Other thoughts... do you charge for coffee refills? If you have free refills, that would entice them to stay longer and just keep filling up their cups.

Do you have a frequent reader card? Encourage your customers to purchase books with incentives for repeat purchases. For the ones who are there reading in and drinking your coffee, offer a drink discount to those who purchase a book while they are there.

If book sales are your money maker, focus on getting the word out about your books. Have a newsletter or blog about new releases, as well as a sign in-store. If it is coffee that makes your money, offer book discount coupons to your coffee drinkers to entice them to buy more books. Basically, cross promote your books and coffee as best you can to encourage every person in your door to buy both a book and coffee.

One thought I had about your customers who come in to read without buying anything-- maybe a two drink minimum for customers who don't purchase a book but bring their own or read one of your used copies?

I'm just brainstorming here and typing my train of thought, so I hope this is helpful! Have a great evening,

fairouz mm
U know I like your idea about seating (in group & in single) it is simple but very efficient, thank you.
The book is my money maker, the coffee and the atmosphere are the enticing, but I?m not sure how do I charge the customer for the reading-in only books (by book, by hour, by coffee ...!)Do you really think minimum two drinks will be sufficient.

Thank a lot u helped me a great deal.

I think in order to know if the two drink minimum is sufficient, you need to look at your daily cost to operate your store, and determine how much of your business are those people who sit and read without buying anything. When you look at it, you might find out that its not worth it to press those few people into paying to stay because other customers are covering their expenses-- or you might find out that you do need to develop a plan to convert those "sitters" into purchasers.

I have an article on my blog that shows an easy way to calculate and track daily operating expenses and how to set sales goals for your shop. You might want to check it out-- it could help you determine how much those "sitters" cost! Here's the link... http://toolkit.imageworkbook.com