-- By 3 Corte Madera Residents and Home Owners
1. WENDY HITCHCOCK - Mother, Teacher, Consultant
Do Our Voices Count?
I was shocked and saddened by the sudden closing of Corte Madera's Marshals as well as by the prospective tenant to take its space. Despite being a top producing store frequented by many in the community, Marshals wasn't offered a lease renewal.
The shock continued as I learned that I had been categorized, among other Marshals shoppers, as not "up-scale" enough to generate substantial traffic to benefit the other shops in the Corte Madera Town Center; I question this finding. Regardless, Town Center General Manager Stan Hoffman quoted to the Marin IJ in its "Last Roundup for Marshals" article, "We made a decision to put in a tenant that we felt would be more appropriate use for the center." Unconfirmed, yet seemingly inevitable, Barnes & Noble stands to be the "more appropriate" choice.
This is most shocking and disturbing, as not only is Marshals now gone (and with it goes consideration of economic diversity in the community), but now the livelihood of Corte Madera's Book Passage could be threatened. It's in our best interest to preserve Book Passage, the finest independent bookstore in Northern California, which also serves as a vital educational and community center. The Town Center could consider other prospective tenants that would better serve the center AND the community.
Ultimately, we will vote with our dollars. However, I urge the community to visit the CCSIB site at <http.www.omnibusol.com/ccsib.html> to express our voices on this issue before it's too late. Collectively our voices can count!
Wendy Hitchcock, Corte Madera
2. LISA WILHELM, Managing Partner, Global Payments Experts, llc.
"A Condensed History"
MARKET, ECONOMIC, AND BUSINESS IMPACTS:
Independent Bookstores And The Rise Of Big Box Super Bookstores
- 1972 : Independent bookstores comprised 84% of the U.S. bookstore market
-
1990s': Rise of the Big Box super bookstore chains Barnes & Noble
and Borders
- Steep discounts, often 40% below list
- Predatory loss leaders with deep pockets and market and supplier discount pricing power
- Most independent bookstores could not (and cannot) match price without losing money on each sale, and no access to volume discounts
- Big Box bookstore prices rise once local bookstores are driven out of business
- Limited mix of books - every chain nationally has similar selection
- 1992: Independent bookstores comprised 15% of the U.S. bookstore market
- 1995: There were 4200 bookstores
- Mid 90s': Arrival of Amazon and Internet sales
-
-
Like every other survivor, already slim profit margins were radically
compressed, with some years probably ending in the red.
with compressing net profit margins. - Book Passage reflects and celebrates our local culture and neighborhoods and attracts visitors to our community
- It takes risks on unknown authors and publishers that become and publish bestsellers
- It hosts one of the largest calendars of author events anywhere in the world, featuring a wide variety to writers and opinion makers in what has become Corte Madera's de facto community center.
- It hosts scores of book clubs and groups for adults and kids; the industry's premier mystery writers and travel writers & photographers annual conference; and multiple writing workshops and classes ranging from travel, art, and cooking to history, children's books, publishing, book sales, and marketing. Every conference, workshop, or class is more often than not led by veteran industry authors and writers
-
Like every other survivor, already slim profit margins were radically
compressed, with some years probably ending in the red.
-
Today: There remain 1700 independent bookstores in the US comprising just
10% of the U.S. bookstore market share. Average net profit margins are negative
.72%
- 30% operate in the red with average net profit margins of negative 9.41%.
- 40% operate with marginal net profit margins: average .27%
- 30% operate with strong net profit margins: average 6.66%
- Almost all local bookstores go out of business when a Big Box super store locates on their doorsteps - survivors are a rare exception.
-
More than free market forces are at work to create these conditions.
- Public policies have played a role: land use, tax incentives, and development incentives to Big Box stores.
Our Community: The Bottom Line
- National Big Box super bookstore chains contribute far less to local economies - they keep local investment and spending to a minimum.
- Big Box super stores can only be successful at the expense of existing independent bookstores. They need to put them out of business.
- Fact: National big box super bookstore chains return $13 to the local economy for every $100 of books sold.
-
Fact: Local bookstores return $45 to the local economy for every $100
of books sold.
-
Local economy dollar returns:
-
On $5,000,0000 in book sales
- Big Box Chain: $.7 million
- Independent: $2.3 million
- Independent: 228% higher return
-
On $10,000,0000 in book sales
- Big Box Chain: $1.3 million
- Independent: $4.5million
-
Independent: 246% higher return
-
On $5,000,0000 in book sales
Odds of Book Passage survival: Pretty damned difficult.
-
Barnes & Noble is already trading at 20.5 times estimated earnings
per share for 2005. As a community, we believe we are sufficiently contributing
to Barnes & Nobles economics at its current location across the
freeway.
Is this really what we want for the
Corte Madera and Marin communities???
Will this "thrill" our communities? Of course not.You decide. Your voice matters. Make it count.
Lisa Wilhelm, A local business and home owner
3. DR. KONNILYN FEIG, Professor, Global Consultant on Human Rights
PLEASE DO NOT SAY THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO!
I have great respect for this Council. You are fine people and I have enthusiastically voted in and campaigned in every council election.
Mrs. Gill, you serve as Council liaison to the Town Center. Having spent time with Stan Hoffman, Mrs. Gill, I understand how charming he can be. But this issue is not of charm, but of the Council's General Plan (and I bet I am one of the few "constituents who has read every word) - an issue of the Council's General plan, of it and this Council's economic, geographical, size diversity commitment, and of transparency. Can you imagine how surprised I was yesterday to find that at least one member of the Council knew that the Barnes's invasion was not rumor but fact? And that at least one of you, I was told today, knows of the move of the Meadowlark Gallery so that Barnes can also have that space for its café? I also know that the identity of the owner of the Town Center, the Florida State Pension Fund, is not a secret to all of you. And what about the poor IJ reporter with whom I talked today who had never got anyone to talk with him, so all he could do was report it as a rumor.
Did not this Council have and does not it bear some responsibility? What do you think the residents will think? When this meeting is written up, what do you think it will look like? It is disingenuous to say there is nothing you can do. I will bet you $500 that if I look through the public minutes of this Council for the past 10 years (which I intend to do), that I will find many resolutions that this council has made on other matters other than an issue that had a legal containment. Mrs. Gill, I know for a fact that you have OFTEN told Stan Hoffman that something he or the Center was doing was good. Well, it is not against the law to tell them that something they are doing is bad.
THIS ISSUE IS NOT GOING TO GO AWAY. Is there no one among you who cares about this? To paraphrase Socrates, "they take no care of us." Our request is that "take some care of the small folks in this community" and that you schedule this item for your next agenda. Schedule it under the explanation of the General Plan which says discussion is urged - to examine what those who wrote and those who adopted meant when they talked about a small town environment and commitment to social and cultural development. That is our request.
Konnilyn Feig, Corte Madera
Return to CCSIB HERE