MIBA Goes to the Mart - August
Minneapolis Gift Mart
10301 Bren Road WestMinnetonka, MN 55343-9079
United States
Event Details
We’re hosting an opportunity to meet up with fellow booksellers at the Minneapolis Gift Mart, one of the biggest wholesale regional gift markets in the country.
Our host is Debra Cotterman, one of the partners who owns/operates the two bookstores at the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport (Open Book and [words]). A retailer first and a bookseller second, Debra knows how to expertly mix book and non-book product to create a seamless customer experience that boosts a store’s bottom line. A veteran of the Mart, Debra will lead us on a personal tour of the ins and outs of using the Mart well, including what to do to get ready, what to bring, and special group appointments with the vendors with bookstore-rich sidelines.
This is a wholesale market where booksellers will either place orders on the floor or gather vendor info to build their orders after the event. We will meet at the Mart at 9 am, experience the tour, meet with vendors, and then be free to use the Mart in small groups or on our own. There's no set end time to the day. Lunch is in small groups or on your own via the Mart's boxed lunches or nearby restaurant options.
To enter the Mart, you must 1) be an owner or a buyer for a retail/resale business or (employed by one who is attending), 2) bring a photocopy of your state tax permit or the confirmation letter from the Department of Revenue, and 3) either a business check or a business card.
For More Information:
Debra Cotterman has been a buyer, inventory manager, and analyst at various retail companies since the 1980s with experience in gift, home, stationary, apparel, jewelry, toy, and even pet product and businesses. Bookstores had always been her personal refuge, so when the opportunity arose to become a partner in two new bookstores in the MSP airport (Open Book and [words]), she was thrilled and has enjoyed combining her deep retail knowledge with her love of bookstore culture. Through this experience, she learned what products she needed to boost her own bookstores’ bottom lines and started her own small business called Bookish Endeavors to create product for book lovers that’s now carried by independent bookstores across the country.