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The current retail storybook doesn't read like a carefree romance, but not all retail segments are brokenhearted. According to a report released by the American Booksellers Association (ABA), book sales for September 2001 were actually up from September 2000 figures."Considering the events of September 11, bookstore sales in September must be considered quite respectable, as they managed to exceed sales for the previous September by 6.7 percent," says the report. "Preliminary sales of $1.6 billion for September 2001 compared favorably with the $1.5 billion performance of September 2000," the report continues.That is not to say the current economic situation and the events of Sept. 11 haven't affected the publishing industry. Store traffic across all retail segments is down, says Bridget Marmion, vice president, director of trade and reference division for Houghton Mifflin Co., New York.In addition, the types of books that consumers are interested in has shifted. Books concerning Islam, terrorism and American history saw a rise in popularity during the weeks following Sept. 11, according to sources contacted for this report. However, Geoff Colquitt, marketing director for Avon and Harper Torch Books, New York, says increased interest in topics relating to current events hasn't impacted his book sales. "Mass market paperbacks have probably been the least affected by the down-turn in the economy and the shift in reader's tastes since September 11."One of the biggest challenges book publishers currently face is a lack of general media interest in authors, says Colquitt. Most publishers rely on media support through interviews and book discussions on TV, radio and in print. In the wake of Sept. 11 and the military action in Afghanistan, many news and talk shows have focused on hard news reporting and current events."A lot of fiction is driven by the amount of publicity that we can generate for an author," says Colquitt. "September 11 put a lot of that on hold because shows on TV and radio wanted to talk with people who are experts on terrorism and the Taliban."That has made staying top-of-mind with consumers a chore, considering that book sales are an interwoven mix of planned and impulse purchases, says Colquitt. The in-store environment has become more important than ever to get books into the hands of consumers.The playing field for display space is also more competitive than ever. As some chains continue to become larger market forces, others are going out of business. Crown Books, for example, closed its doors last year. The end result is that the remaining chains have a greater influence in the marketplace.Additionally, book publishers face competition both from direct competitors and from producers of other types of media. "As publishers, we are in an area that you could call general media," says Colquitt. "By that I mean that we compete with DVD and home video for the consumer dollar. In that regard, our packaging, pricing and ability to capture the impulse purchase is extremely important."Indies Versus ChainsWhile chains and mass merchants continue to make up a larger piece of the bookselling pie, independent booksellers are also uniting and evolving into a strong force of their own. A survey published in the January 2002 issue of Consumer Reports magazine reported that 88% of readers responding to the magazine's questionnaire said they were "completely satisfied" with their shopping experiences at independent booksellers. That puts independent booksellers on the same level as the highest-rated stores from any Consumer Reports survey, according to the magazine.In part, the increased market strength of indie bookstores has been aided by the efforts of the ABA's Book Sense program, which is designed to help publishers market to independent bookstores as a group rather than as individual shops. Book Sense publishes a list of recommended books and distributes display materials that include comments and reviews from other independent booksellers."It's sort of like having an extended family of independent booksellers talking about books and what they like about them," says Lilla Weinberger, co-owner of Readers' Books in Sonoma, Calif. "They print cards that can be put into books. The cards have quotes from independent booksellers talking about the books and what they like about them."Publishers agree that Book Sense has helped with their merchandising and their ability to communicate to independent booksellers. "Book Sense has really helped us to promote to independents as a group," says Houghton Mifflin's Marmion. "Chains have very precise feelings about how many displays they want during different times of the year. That is quite a bit different from independents that make their decisions based on their own particular needs. Book Sense is helping us with that."Playing By the BookWhile many booksellers, including traditional bookstores, mass merchants, drugstores and supermarkets, have specific rules and restrictions regarding displays, there are exceptions to every rule. "The thing about book retailing is that there is never a consensus among retailers," says Marmion.Size is certainly an issue when retailers decide to accept or reject a display. "I'm much more likely to order a display that holds six copies of a title than I am to order something that holds 10 or 12 copies," says Weinberger. "That goes beyond what we know we can sell quickly."Ultimately, retailer acceptance of a display program comes down to the actual book. Books that retailers feel can generate consumer interest or have a tie-in to a high-profile film or current event tend to have a better chance of getting placed."We're not going to promote a book that we don't believe in," explains Weinberger. "We're pretty selective about what we use and don't use."Neal Coonerty, owner of Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Bookshop Santa Cruz and president of the ABA, agrees that many of his display decisions are based on the title. "If it's a major book, then we'll usually find a place for it," he says. "If it is something that isn't a major release, then the size of the display is a big issue.""Space is becoming more and more of a premium, especially as chains become more formatted," says Lesleigh Irish- Underwood, former director of promotions for DK Publishing, New York. "They don't want frivolous displays, just having a display for the sake of having a display."Rick Martino, director of retail displays and merchandising for New York-based Time Warner Publishing had to respond to shrinking real estate at supermarket checkout lines in order to market magazines effectively. Coolers have been moved near checkout aisles, and self-scanning registers have diminished the amount of magazine display space. He has responded with specially formed racks. "We're trying to get creative with designing some permanent displays that are customized to fit around the unique merchandising size and shape of the self-service check-outs," he says.For In Style magazine, the sheer size of the publication posed another challenge. The magazine receives a great deal of ad support, making it too thick and heavy to be supported by the company's standard permanent magazine racks. To address the issue, Martino designed a high-capacity floor display with a trap door in the base where additional magazines can be stored flat.In Wal-Mart stores, Martino has been experimenting with different methods to merchandise special edition issues of Life magazine. For the first time, he produced corrugated power wings and a quarter-pallet display."We tried to make it eye-catching since our products are primarily sold through impulse," says Martine.Although space and the inherent value of a particular title are starting points for accepting displays, they aren't the end-all. According to Houghton Mifflin's Marmion, retailers are looking for interesting, clever, space-efficient display vehicles that add some element of value to their stores."Most stores are looking for something unusual, interesting and graphically arresting," says Irish-Underwood. "They want things that are really going to add to the store and get noticed right from the door."Thinking Beyond the CoverThis need for value-added display pieces has forced many publishers to reevaluate their display offerings and design pieces that do more than simply showcase product. Many publishers are experimenting with space-efficient display designs and non-traditional display formats.Houghton Mifflin's Marmion has tried to incorporate consumer contests into her displays to add value to the sale. Two years ago, she designed a "Welcome to Middle Earth" sweepstakes to help retailers revisit the way they merchandise J.R.R. Tolkien's books. The sweepstakes helped her to place approximately 2,000 displays. "It gave the retailer one more reason to look at Tolkien in a fresh way, and this was long before the movie was coming out," she says.To coincide with the recent theatrical release of "The Lord of the Rings," Marmion produced a variety of floor displays and countertop units. In September, a floorstand featuring a full-size die-cut standee of the Gandalf character went into stores. That was followed in October by additional displays with a different design. "A project like this lends itself to lots of point-of-sale materials," says Marmion.For DK's "Smithsonian Animal" title, Irish-Underwood went beyond the scope of traditional book displays. For this display, DK produced a 6-foot corrugated lizard that appears to be climbing over a stack of books. The lizard features a special laminate that makes it appear to have scales."That display has been taken not only by our traditional bookstores, but also by some airport stores," Irish-Underwood says. "Although it's a $50 book that weighs a ton, they have completely sold through. I'm sure it's because you can't pass that display and not stop to see what it is about. I think retailers were a little afraid to not have the display. If you have one store across the way with it in the window and you don't have it, you're at a disadvantage."For the company's travel books, DK released a display shaped like the Eiffel Tower. It was placed in more than 4,000 locations. "It is a corrugated, three-dimensional display that held our travel books," Irish-Underwood says. "Not only did we get these out in big numbers, but they were also taken chain-wide in some Canadian chains."The reason the display was so universally accepted was a matter of thought, says Irish-Underwood. "This was different and unusual," she says. "There was a real sense that a lot of thought and effort went into the design."Thematic DisplaysLast summer, Avon Book's Colquitt designed an unusual display in support of a romance novel set in Victorian times called "Suddenly You." The corrugated counter display was made to resemble a Victorian hatbox. "We used the lid of the box as the display riser and created the bottom of it so that the books actually sat inside of the box," he explains. "That was fabulously successful."Colquitt admits that continually coming up with unique designs is difficult both in terms of creativity and budget limitations. "Once you start talking about something that is custom, the cost goes up," he says. "We have to do an awful lot of sourcing just to find a price that will work."The company often opts to spend its promotional budget by participating in retail display programs in which Avon buys endcap display space, Colquitt continues. "At a certain level, it does get to be a pay-to-play arena," he says. "You don't get those endcap placements for free."At Skokie, Ill.-based Rand McNally, Bryan Ceja, senior planner for merchandising and promotions, is using P-O-P to get consumers to change the way they think of maps. Traditionally, maps have been merchandised in wire racks or corrugated holders. Ceja wants consumers to make the emotional bridge between the maps and their feelings about traveling."We've attached graphics to some of our custom promotional displays with messaging that talks about some of the emotions tied to travel," Ceja explains. "It brings together the product and what it is used for. That puts us on the same footing as some of the other categories sold in bookstores."Rand McNally is also partnering with companies offering products complementary to travel, including Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Elmsford, N.Y., and McDonald's Corp., Oak Brook, Ill. To market its road atlases in c-stores and gas stations along travel routes, for example, the company created floorstands that tout a $5 gift certificate offer for lunch at McDonald's.Ceja says retailers are also requesting displays to help with inventory management. The company's latest displays, which will be appearing in stores during the first quarter of this year, will feature consistent Rand McNally blue color and the tagline "let us be your guide," Ceja says.Another map publisher, Addison, Ill.-based American Map Co., is also listening to retailer concerns and redesigning its displays to speed sell-through. Noting the slowdown in the economy, Paula Bregman, vice president and general manager, is reducing the number of products that the company's displays hold."It's smart to cut back inventories that are in the displays so that they sell through faster and there isn't a lot of inventory left over," says Bregman.Anne Lee, director of merchandising for Scholastic Book Fairs, Lake Mary, Fla., has a unique challenge when designing displays because her books are sold primarily through schools. The company sets up mobile book fairs at schools across the country. That makes lightweight, portable displays a must, she says."Basically, we have 100,000 stores a year that are mobile," Lee explains. "We set them up for a week, then take them down and put them in the trucks."Lee traditionally has used corrugated displays with bold colors and graphics to attract the interest of children and adult customers. She is now testing a new, four-sided kiosk with casters, which is scheduled to make its debut this spring."This display is really exciting for us because it has doors," says Lee. "You just open it up and it's a pre-merchandised, permanent fixture."Calling All PostersIn the quest for new merchandising options, some retailers want publishers to look beyond typical displays. For example, Readers' Books' Weinberger wishes publishers would focus on alternatives such as posters and ceiling mobiles. "Posters are wonderful," she says. "We have a few areas where we can tuck a poster."Houghton Mifflin's Marmion agrees that posters are an underutilized display material in bookstores. "A gorgeous poster is like a permanent display because it can stay up forever," she says.Even though the advantages of unique and non-traditional displays are well understood among publishers, cost is often a limiting factor. That makes standardized displays a necessary component to a publisher's display offerings.DK often designs standardized displays that can be customized in terms of the quantity of titles in the display, according to Irish-Underwood. Marmion, too, has been working with standardized display components. "We started doing generic displays so that if we have a standard size hardcover book and a store wants just nine copies, we can still provide them with a display."American Maps' Bregman agrees. "We're looking at keeping our costs down in building displays," she says. "That goes hand-in-hand with standardized displays and a simpler message on the display."New York-based Disney Publishing's Jennifer Jankowski, promotions director, tries to keep costs down by reusing elements of displays. When a hardback book is promoted with a display, it is purposely kept generic enough so that the paperback edition will be able to be merchandised on the same display. "From my end, we're trying to conserve money and still be able to push the book," says Jankowski.Disney has also responded to retail space restrictions by producing generic book easels. The book easels are personalized with a riser card to promote a specific book or series of books. "The easel is less expensive than doing a full counter display, and it takes up less space, as well," says Jankowski.Jankowski is also experimenting with a self-shipper display that easily fits on a counter. "Basically, you just flip the top and that is the riser," she says. "It comes with a foot so that it can be placed at an angle. It's really easy."Scholastic Book Fairs' Lee is using standardized displays to serve multiple purposes. The company publishes books by child authors through its "Kids are Authors" program and promotes the books on a display. The same display is used to sell coloring books and crayons. That offers the company the advantage of cross merchandising products like books with drawing supplies, says Lee.In the coming year, publishers will be faced with a new set of challenges as the uncertainty of the economy comes to light. Some publishers already feel that the worst is behind them."The idea of reading as an escape from all of the news is coming back," says Colquitt. "I wouldn't really call it a turnaround because it never really went away, but we are back to a level that we were at before September 11."Others are more cautious. "I think we're going to be very conscious next year as to what we can do to get book-sellers and consumers to be enthusiastic about our books," says Marmion. "That does not mean that we'll necessarily do more point-of-sale. It does mean that well be spending every nickel very, very wisely."

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