Feb. 1 — A book for every reader

Regulars, online sales keep store going after ten years

Andrew Hosford / of The Herald

There is one guarantee when opening a new business or trying to sell a book — nothing is guaranteed.

A great author may never sell a copy if they have no business sense. The worst business owner can become wildly successful if they catch the right fad at the right time.

Evelyn Nicholson, owner of A Good Book in Sumner, decided to take both issues head on by starting a business that relies on romance novels and the latest wizard or cartoon currently appealing to children.

“My husband and I had a dream to do this as a semi-retirement job,” Nicholson said.

Now in its tenth year in Sumner, the store continues to grow and evolve despite the low-profit margins and heavy competition.

The store sells and buys used books, filling the shelves with new Harry Potter or the “Forest Lover,” the latest offering from the Sumner Reads Together program.

“If it is the latest and greatest I have to buy it online for them,” she said.

She added that she can find just about any book that customers request.

With the arrival of online mega stores like eBay and Amazon.com, Nicholas said she knew the business would have to go on the Internet.

Keeping her enemies close, she now lists hundreds of books on Amazon.com’s online marketplace, a site that can be used by individuals and businesses alike.

“I’m trying to maintain a certain level of integrity,” she said.

Selling only high-price items and complete book sets, a third of the store’s revenue is now produced online.

The store on Main Street, and the customers that rely on it, still account for the majority of profits and fun, she said.

Nicholas said her main competitive edge is the discounts customers receive after trading in books of their own.

People who are awarded “Discount Dollars” from trade-ins get 50 percent off the cover price. The remaining amount is then split in half again with the store credit that was earned. It allows for an $8 book to be purchased with $2 cash.

Customers can even submit wish lists so that they get the first chance to buy when a new title comes.

The literary exchange and low prices attract a variety of people.

“We get the whole extended family,” Nicholson said of the demographics of her customer base.

“We even get long-haul truck drivers that come in to get audio tapes or refresh there list of books,” said employee Diane Robinson.

Robinson said some truckers have even maneuvered their rigs down Main Street to get to the store.

The store has earned the trust of her regular customers by keeping track of their preferences and stocking the shelves with popular authors and genres, Nicholas said.

Those same customers are the reason Nicholas still enjoys the business after a decade downtown.

Just don’t expect her to overlook the fad of Internet sales anytime soon.

“I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing,” she said of her future plans. “Maybe list a little more on the Internet.”