Local and Chain Bookstores Kick-off Holiday Shopping Season

               Both local and big-box booksellers kicked off their holiday season this Thanksgiving weekend, marked by Black Friday as well as Small Business Saturday.

                Barnes and Noble in Amherst, NY did a first, as many chain stores did, and opened at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, rather than wait until the next morning to start. Bookseller Melissa Genier said that though it was completely dead that night, as soon as the store opened the next morning it was ridiculously busy, all day.

“Pretty much everyone worked that time from 8 o’clock Thursday to Friday at some point,” Genier said.

                “Anything really movie-based like the Hunger Games or the new Lincoln movie sold real well. Anything Lincoln was popular. Teen, any teen book series is always popular and our Nooks, we sold like a billion,” said Genier on what topped the store’s sales this weekend.

                Movie based items are always a popular seller, especially around Christmas. Films such as “Lincoln” help create buzz around a new topic. Films based off popular teen books, such as Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games” trilogy, act as gateway to for movie fans to become book fans.

                On the other side of town, “Small Business Saturday” went well in the Elmwood Village of Buffalo. Talking Leaves...Books on Elmwood had extra staffing on hand to help with the rush and offered special holiday gift wrap.

                “There’s usually only two of us but there were more people on this weekend. We put on extra help because we knew it would be busy,” said bookseller Doug Zerby.

                The store has also ordered a stock of E-Readers to sell soon, said Zerby. Including Talking Leaves…Books in competition with one of the season’s hottest gift items, and not just for literature junkies, but for casual readers as well.

             The Elmwood Village Association promoted the national day, created and sponsored by American Express, leading up to the weekend. The association also rewarded customers, including those at Talking Leaves…Books, who bought locally with “I Shop Local” buttons.

   “We had those buttons to hand out and those came from them [The Elmwood Village Association] said bookseller, Brittany Moroz, who opened the store on Small Business Saturday along with Zerby. 

The Elmwood Village Association announced that most of its stores have extended, seasonal hours now, and will remain open until 9 p.m.