Village Books Owner Signs a 3-Year Lease

Katie O’Laughlin, the owner of Village Books, has decided to plunge ahead and sign a three-year lease for her popular store on Swarthmore. “I signed the new lease and sent it off on December 22,” O’Laughlin said in an interview Tuesday. “I’m anxious as to what the future holds, but I still love doing this and I’m going to give it my best shot.” O’Laughlin’s determination to preserve an endangered species–the independent bookstore–was welcomed news to local book lovers, who speculated all through 2006 whether she would be able to afford signing a new lease on her 1,000-sq.ft. space. “I can’t imagine life in the Palisades without Village Books,” said local resident Kenny Turan, the L.A. Times film critic. “It’s such a blessing to have this kind of sophisticated and friendly store right in the heart of the Village.” Despite the store’s cramped space, he said, “they have become real experts at getting books quickly if they don’t have it on the shelf.” O’Laughlin had just finished adding up her sales figures for 2006 on Tuesday and said, “This year was a little better than 2004, but down from 2005. Our biggest competition is still the Internet, more so than Barnes & Noble and Borders. Also, you see books being sold everywhere–Target, Costco, grocery stores, speciality stores, Restoration Hardware– and they all nick away at our sales. People say, ‘Your store seems busy,” but you have to sell a lot of $10 to $30 books just to break even.” Moreover, O’Laughlin gives a 10-percent rebate to customers (paid after every 10 books purchased), knocking her income down to 30 percent of the purchase price. But she is adjusting that “frequent buyer” program this year. “Faced with the reality that we need to make some changes in order to survive,” O’Laughlin said in a letter to her customers in December, “our frequent buyer credit slips will have a six-month expiration period,” beginning on January 1. “This is a relatively minor change that we hope will encourage you to come in more frequently to use your credit slip and make enough difference in our bottom line to keep us going.” One important reason why O’Laughlin was embolded to sign a new lease is that 2007 offers several notable selling opportunities. First, the store will celebrate its 10th anniversary on July 4, and O’Laughlin is hoping to have a float in the parade while also keeping the store open all day. Second, the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”) is set to be published this year. “I hope the rumor is true that since this is the seventh book, it will be published on 7/7/07,” O’Laughlin said, knowing that this would give her a perfect opportunity to keep the store open for another Saturday night party leading up to the start of sales at midnight. The Potter books have been financial boons, with hardback sales ranging from 505 for book three to 939 for book five. At $30 retail, Village Books earns $12 a book before rebates. O’Laughlin is also confident that her store’s new Web site (www.palivillagebooks.cog) will help attract new customers while keeping her regulars happy. The site includes staff recommendations and information about upcoming events, and has an easy way to e-mail requests to order books. “People can’t purchase books online through us yet,” O’Laughlin said, “but we’ll probably eventually move into online selling and try to gain business from people who are accustomed to buying everything on the Internet.” Meanwhile, O’Laughlin’a single mom with a daughter, Elizabeth, in her senior year at Marymount’will continue working virtually seven days a week to stay on top of her business and maximize her selling opportunities (such as by selling books at off-site events and by keeping the store open late one or two nights a week for talks by visiting and hometown authors). ‘Tuesday is theoretically my day off,’ she said, ‘but in reality, I’m here every day, either ordering books, working the cash register, or handling all the business aspects.’ Yet she still makes time to read. ‘I listen to a book on tape when I walk the dog or walk to work [she lives on Sunset near Drummond], and I read hard copies at home. This week she finished ‘Lay of the Land’ by Richard Ford. ‘His writing is really something,’ she said, her eyes lighting up. ‘Every sentence is beautiful.’