I have come across the St. John’s Booksellers’ Community Supported Bookstore (CSB) program before, but for some reason this time it struck a chord and got me thinking about how this could potentially be a viable way for indie bookstores to be proactive in their ongoing battles against the powers that be.

CSB’s essentially take the well established and mutually beneficial Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model and apply it to bookstores.  The St. John’s Booksellers program allows the customer to buy a membership ($400/year) in exchange for $35 worth of books for “free” every month, along with a discount on all purchases above and beyond those books.  Other benefits like free admission to ticketed events, member-only events, and early access to advance reader copies of select titles are also included.  Reading Frenzy has a similar member benefit program as well.

If I had a bookstore and were designing a CSB program I would attempt to take it one step further, by setting aside a small percentage of non-voting shares in the corporation that people could purchase in addition to the basic membership.  Their would certainly be some added legal hoops to jump through in taking this approach, but I think they would be worth it and here are five reasons why:

  1. It creates a tangible sense of ownership in the continued success of the bookstore. CSB members would be compelled to recruit new customers and new members if only to hedge their bets.  Of course your store is so awesome that they would do this outside of the financial ramifications, but it never hurts to provide a little extra incentive.  Your success becomes their success.
  2. It establishes a stable source of revenue that can be used to innovate store services. Have your eye on an Espresso Book Machine but don’t have the cash on hand to make the purchase?  Want to upgrade (or establish) your web presence but are struggling to merely keep the lights on?  Want to purchase some quality A/V equipment to make your readings more entertaining but budget constraints make it out of the question?  Address these challenges and more in exchange for a little equity in your shop.
  3. It provides an easily accessible and motivated focus group. Have some ideas for reaching new customers but you’re not sure how effective they will be?  Gather feedback on these ideas from the members before incorporating them into your store.  They could also help you brainstorm new and creative ideas you may have never thought of.
  4. It creates a heightened sense of loyalty. This somewhat ties into the first benefit, but is less about recruiting new customers and is more about ones own shopping habits.  When someone has a little “skin in the game,” it changes their behavior.  All of a sudden they begin to think twice before ordering a couple books from the online beast(s), or before picking up that new bestseller on their latest Costco run.  They begin to internalize that those purchases could be made to further benefit “their store.”
  5. It would increase sales. In the end this is what any business is all about.  The outcome of the four benefits listed above is that more people would be shopping at your store, and your store only.  As long as you designed the CSB program in a way that any discounts and/or community shares offered didn’t undermine the long term viability of the store, the additional customers and their purchases would only prove beneficial.

Would their be drawbacks to setting up a CSB program, especially one that allowed customers to purchase shares?  Certainly, there are always potential drawbacks to any decision in life or business.  But if designed right, I think that a CSB program allows bookstores to further build upon the idea of “supporting local,” and does it in a way that is very immediate and tangible.  The idea of selling shares to the community seem like a bit too much?  Well it can be done, and this small town in Wyoming proved it.

I would like to hear what you think.  Any added benefits that I left out?  Any huge drawbacks that bring the whole idea into question?  Lets hear them in the comments below.

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