Bookseller Testimonials
KUDOS from MBA Booksellers for the 2009 MBA Catalog!
“We’ve done very well, sales are up. This was my 9th Christmas in business and I had my BEST holiday season ever!! And as I have told you before, the MBA Catalog continues to help. This past Easter season I had someone bring in a catalog from 2 YEARS AGO (they save them all) and asked for a book they found in it! Last year I had leftover catalogs into July, but I continued to give them out, updating them with sales fliers and misc. book information. This year I had customers in before the catalogs came out ASKING when they would be here. Anyway, I think the catalogs are a very important marketing tool and I hope to increase my use of it in the years to come. Also, I used the on line link in my e-newsletter. My newsletter recipients also said they appreciated getting it online. I think a combination of strategies is the best way to reach the most number of people, but what I received the most feedback from customers on is the following: the MBA Catalog, our newspaper insertion of the Catalog, newsletter and email blasts, gift cards and certificates, Free gift wrapping, extended hours, special orders, direct-to-home shipping.”
– Angela Grafstrom, Inspiration Hollow, Roseau, MN
“A good holiday season! Yes, the MBA Catalog helps our sales! Sales up 14% for December. We tripled the number of catalogs we inserted into our local paper and worked hard to insure we were never out of catalog titles. The MBA catalog helped us a lot this holiday season.”
– Judith Kissner, Scout & Morgan Books, Cambridge, MN
“We were steady and busy over Thanksgiving weekend with many families from out of town. Children’s books and new releases did particularly well. Watermark Books had a December gain of between 8% to 9%. We praise the Midwest Booksellers Association Catalog, which was distributed through our local newspaper on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. That alone brought more new faces into the store than ever before, and the store saw sales from it all that week and through December. Customers were calling and coming into the store with the catalog in hand. The publishers were well represented with great selections in the catalog this year, and the titles were flat-out fun to sell.”
– Sarah Bagby and Beth Golay, Watermark Books, Wichita, KS
“Our sales for the month of November, 2009 were the fourth highest since we opened in April of 2007. Children’s books are always good sellers for us. This month and the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving were no exception. Between the time we first distributed the MBA Catalog in early November and Friday, Dec. 4th, 61 titles from the MBA Catalog have been sold. The MBA Catalog is making its way into the store! Customers are bringing the catalog into the store when they shop for books and gifts. They have redeemed coupons as well. Our (college) employee discount is 10% off entire purchase, so the incentive to faculty and staff is not there. Still, we are doing a catalog stuffing to all staff and faculty at our college this week as a way to remind them of the wonderful titles we have in our collection and spur shopping at the downtown location this week. We will however honor purchases and discounts at the college store as well, so we may see employees visit the campus store and request titles from the catalog at that location.”
– Vicki Wade, Pioneer Bookshop, Grinnell, IA
“We used the MBA Catalog for our mailing list, in-store display, and stuffed an additional 800 into selected zones of our local newspaper. Response to the mailing was immediate and good. The MBA Catalog was really well received this year. Folks who got it in the mail starting coming in as soon as it arrived, and the books on the list on the Catalog table sold well. Facebook has been a very recent addition to our efforts and has re-connected us to quite a few lapsed customers. Our Little Falls Business Association Open House is always a big kick-off to the season.”
– Laura Hansen, Bookin’ It, Little Falls, MN
“We had a great Thanksgiving weekend….approximately 25% above last year! In general, we were up 15% over last year. The catalog definitely helped us. Customers had it in hand when they came in the store and we got phone inquiries as well. Coupons have been redeemed.”
– Molly Rice, Valley Bookseller, Stillwater, MN
“Holiday sales this year were up from last year. The Midwest Booksellers Association Catalog titles did very well – we mailed it to our customers and stuffed it in a local ‘what’s happening’ paper, which has a circulation of about 8,000. This year, River Lights increased its marketing initiatives, and that seemed to pay off in sales. Cookbooks were hot. More advertising and Facebooking. The store stayed open until 9:00 p.m. every weekday.”
– Sue Davis, River Lights Bookstore, 2nd Edition, Dubuque, IA
“The catalog this year was GREAT. We inserted it in the local newspaper, and people came in it with marked up for the books they wanted to buy. We kept a big display of catalog books throughout the holiday season and the books did well. There were good picks in the catalog and the catalog itself looked very professional. I got a lot of compliments on it from other business owners.”
–- Jennifer Wills Geraedts, Beagle Books, Park Rapids, MN
“Yes, the MBA Catalog has definitely helped our sales. We inserted catalogs into our local buyer’s guide paper. We used it as a bag stuffer, handing out at offsite sales events. People love getting the catalog, and I’ve gotten a lot of people to fill out the wish list on the front inside cover.”
– Candy Pearson, Apple Blossom Books, Oshkosh, WI
“We did extremely well. Our sales almost doubled this year. We did newspaper inserts with the MBA Catalog and a toy catalog. E-mail newsletters have been huge since I started and have really bumped up my sales since I started in August.”
– Valerie Stadick, Main Street Books, Minot, ND
“We did very well! In the beginning of our 2nd year in business, we doubled our sales for Friday and Saturday over last year’s numbers. The MBA Catalog has been a great selling tool, and we think our really beautiful window displays, fun radio ads, and word of mouth are also working very well.
– Tressa Mott, The Next Chapter, Knoxville, IA
“We had strong response from the MBA catalog. People came in with the catalog in their hands. This year again we purchased a mailing list and that made a big impact, I highly recommend it! I also felt people were conscious of supporting the local merchants and going out of their way to purchase from us.”
-– Leslie Hakala, Best of Times Bookstore, Red Wing, MN
“We’ve had people bring in the MBA Catalog wanting specific books, and we’ve sold quite a few books from our MBA Catalog display. In addition, Midwest Connections highlights books that we probably wouldn’t sell without the help of that program.”
– Carla Ketner, Chapters Books & Gifts, Seward, NE
We did great. Up over 2008 & 2007 by just a hair. Customers were in good spirits. They clearly expressed how much the store meant to them and that shopping local was important. The Catalog ALWAYS helps sales. I can tell you the exact time the mailman has delivered the first catalog (give or take an hour or so.) One of the leading paperbacks was The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. The store is starting the year with a robust roster of author events. Books & Company is hosting an extravaganza with 10 local scribes, followed by appearances with Robert Goolrick (A Reliable Wife) and other authors.”
– Lisa Baudoin, Books & Company, Oconomowoc, WI
“Our sales were up, and we did a lot of special orders. We used the MBA Catalog, and there are some atypical titles for us that we sold only because they were out on the catalog display table.
-– Tripp Ryder, Carleton College Bookstore, Northfield, MN
“I used the MBA Catalog titles for displays and have had good success. We distributed the catalog to the faculty/staff and have gotten a good response, even for some of the Wisconsin books. We sold a Wisconsin cheesemakers book here in Minnesota!”
– Ruth Block, St. Olaf College Bookstore, Northfield, MN
We were up 28.5% from last Thanksgiving weekend. We did advertise a Black Friday sale which spiked our sales. We had a table with notable MBA Catalog titles featured.”
– Reader’s Loft, Green Bay, WI
“We were up a little over last December but overall up 7% from 2008. The MBA Catalog does help our sales. Our local paper asked for holiday shopping recommendations from us, too.”
– Eileen Fesco, Book Mouse, Ottawa, IL
“Yes, the MBA Catalog definitely helps our sales. There were some titles in the MBA Catalog that I would not have ordered in, and we sold two or three copies of these books.”
– Jane Stroh, The Bookstore, Glen Ellyn, IL
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2008 MBA Catalog — KUDOS from MBA booksellers!
“The MBA Catalog was a BIG hit!!! Sales were 130% UP for us for December. No, that is not a misprint. Yes, I’m excited. Yes, I believe the AGGRESSIVE catalog/marketing combo helped TREMENDOUSLY. The first wave of catalogs “hit” at the end of October. Imprinting, a personalized front page, and the rented mailing list has brought us many new customers who didn’t know we were their local independent store. The combined effects of the catalog and AGGRESSIVE support digital advertising and e-mail newsletter blasts have made a huge difference for us this year. LOTS of people walk in the door with the catalog in their hands and walk out the door with catalog AND other books/sidelines in their bags! My staff are really excited about the catalog as a marketing tool. Thank you so much!”
– Miah Shull Olmsted, Back to Books, Hudson, WI”Compared to last year, our sales from post-Thanksgiving through New Years were UP! The week AFTER Xmas was huge. Yes! The MBA Catalog helped our sales. We received many more 10% coupons back this year.”
– Sue Davis, River Lights Bookstore 2nd Edition, Dubuque, IA”The catalog this year was GREAT. I can’t tell you how many people came into my store with their catalogs marked up. We kept a big display of catalog books throughout the holiday season and the books did well. There were good picks in the catalog and the catalog itself looked very professional. I got a lot of compliments on it from other business owners.”
– Jennifer Wills Geraedts, Beagle Books, Park Rapids, MN”Not only were sales WAY up this year, but this has been my BEST holiday season in the 8 years I have been in business! Today is the 7th of January and it still has not slacked off!! MBA Catalog sales are up. In addition, because of what they saw in the MBA Catalog, I sold other related titles. For example This I Believe I, Jason Wright’s first book, The Christmas Jars, Gallop, other Fix-It and Forget-It cookbooks, other Ronald Smith, other books in the Paolini series, Sandra Kring’s novels and graphic novels. All these were because of what people saw in the catalog. I think it is important to note this because the catalog sales actually transcend the catalog’s own content. Also, I got WAY more coupons back this year. Maybe it is the current economic times, but I was surprised how many more I got this year.”
– Angela Grafstrom, Inspiration Hollow, Roseau, MN”I was up 40% for Dec. Lots of hard work. Everything helped a bit including the catalog & Midwest Connections.”
– Jerry Bilek, Monkey See Monkey Read, Northfield, MN”Our Christmas season was UP from 2007 and 2006! Surprise, surprise! We had fantastic response from the MBA catalog. This year we purchased a mailing list and that made a huge impact, I highly recommend it! I also felt people were conscious of supporting the local merchants and going out of their way to purchase from us.”
– Leslie Hakala, Best of Times Bookstore, Red Wing, MN”The catalog went out in a neighborhood newspaper and we are distributing to groups. People are coming in with the catalog and buying from it as well. You do such a good job on it and it looks great. The book selection is interesting and appeals to so many sensibilities.”
– Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books & Café , Wichita, KS”We are having excellent response to the MBA Catalog and our own store’s super regionalized catalog. Over half our bestseller list had strong regional connections, followed by book group selections.”
– Anita Zager, Northern Lights Books & Gifts, Duluth, MN”Yes — the MBA Catalog helps our sales! People comment on it all the time!”
– Candy Pearson, Apple Blossom Books, Oshkosh, WI”Sales were up 19%. Our new location continues to yield increases. Catalog titles were a hit this year. Our display was heavily shopped. We had them displayed on the main table as you enter the store, and they continued to move well.”
– Chris Livingston, The Book Shelf, Winona, MN”It is always a beautiful catalog with wonderful gift ideas. People are very happy to see it in the mail.”
– Valerie Stadick, Main Street Books, Minot, ND”We had our Holiday Open House on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and many people had the catalog in their hands.“
-- Carl Wichman, NDSU Bookstore, Fargo, ND”We’ve had more people bring in the MBA Catalog wanting specific books than ever before. In addition, Midwest Connections highlights books that we probably wouldn’t sell without the help of that program.”
– Carla Ketner, Chapters Books & Gifts, Seward, NE“My sales were up over previous years. The MBA catalog & the Midwest Connections program help my sales.”
– Keri Holmes, The Kaleidoscope, Hampton, IA“The Catalog ALWAYS helps sales. I can tell you the exact time the mailman has delivered the first catalog (give or take an hour or so). I would really like to use the Catalog next year as a book fair/fundraiser for smaller schools in our community.”
– Lisa Baudoin, Books & Company, Oconomowoc, WI
