Strand Book Store is a real local business

This week I had two opportunities to visit the Strand Book Store on the corner of Broadway and East 12th Street. Strand, for those who don't know, is one of the few non-chain, small-box used book stores in New York City. Around the 1930's they were one of over 40 used book stores on Book Row in Manhattan. Today they are the only used book store in and around Union Square. Their headquarters is on 12th Street, but they also run another, smaller store downtown near South Street Seaport as well as a kiosk near Central Park.

For my work I arranged a tour of the Strand for librarians who are interested for themselves, but also because Strand offers librarians discounts to buy books for their libraries. So I had made arrangements with the Events Manager, Christina Foxley who would conduct the tour. I'd never met her in person, so when Phil and I went to the Strand to see Ed Begley, Jr. talk about his TV show and book, Living Like Ed, Christina said she would be there making sure things went smoothly.

I arrived after Ed's talk but did stay for a lengthy Q & A. Phil talked about the permaculture class starting in March and offered his flyers to anyone interested, then asked if Ed believed we could continue to grow exponentially, meaning the population, if our planet has finite resources. Of course, Ed said no, but he also said that permaculture is a great thing and that people should talk to Phil about it afterward. It was like getting a free commercial for our class. Thanks, Ed!
Anyway, Christina came up to Phil after that and said he could leave some of his brochures at the Information Desk. That was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. Both Phil and I were very grateful.

So the next day, Christina led about 30 of us on a tour of the book store including stops in the 5th floor warehouse, the rarebooks floor, the remainders area in the basement, as well as the event space and art book section on the 2nd floor, then to the children's section and a short talk with Fred Bass, the owner. It was a very good tour and the librarians asked a lot of questions and Christina and the managers we talked with were very gracious hosts. What I was most impressed by though was how Fred Bass answered a question I asked. I asked Fred where he sees the Strand going in the next few years, if he's planning to expand in any way. Fred responded that they had just finished a renovation of the headquarters store and he was content to work selling quality books and not expanding the business.

When you think about his competition, Barnes and Noble and Borders and the business model they use, what Fred said has much more power than it does without the comparison. Fred is a book person and he's in the business because he loves the business. The CEOs of Barnes and Noble and Borders bookstores are not book men and are not in it because they love it. What they love is making deals and making investors happy. Fred Bass is not interested in that. His resistance to growing his company is a sign that he also values his role as a local business and a local employer. The Strand employs 200 people, a small number compared to his big competitors, but still large for most small businesses. By not taking risks on growth, Fred ensures a safe and stable work environment for his employees, a quality product for his customers and a well-deserved reputation in the city as a quality used bookseller.

If only more businesses ran on those principles instead of on getting money for investors and upper management we'd be in a better economic situation these days.