Micawber’s Books in Saint Paul, Minnesota embodies the
tradition of neighborhood bookstore at its best. First opened in 1972,
Micawber’s came under new co-ownership of booksellers Hans Weyandt and Tom
Bielenberg in 2003. We asked Hans a few questions about life as bookseller.
Atelier 26: What prompted you to take the helm
at Micawber’s back in 2003? Was it your first time running a bookstore?
Weyandt: Both myself and Tom
had been working at The Hungry Mind (which changed its name to Ruminator Books)
and we knew that it was going to close. I heard through family and friends that
the owner of Micawber’s was looking to retire and thought it was at least worth
our time to sit down and talk with him. The entire process from there moved
very quickly. Tom had been the head buyer at Hungry Mind — and had been there
for 25-plus years. I was in charge of special orders. Neither of us had run a
store.
At26: How does the Micawber’s book selection
differ from the selection at Barnes & Noble? How is the shopping experience
at Micawber’s different from browsing/buying on Amazon? What else sets you
apart?
Weyandt: This is one of those
questions that is really difficult to answer in a brief, coherent way. Our
stock is different because none of it is based on paid placement or co-op.
Every book we carry is because we want to carry that specific book. We actually
buy books for specific customers. Often a sales rep will say to one of us, “You
probably don’t need that book.” But we’re getting it because we know someone
who will want to see it. As far as the difference from browsing on-line, it’s a
different world. Here, people pick up books and read portions. They wander from
section to section. Of course, you can read excerpts on-line and virtually “bounce
around” a bookstore (if that’s what Amazon is called), but that is very
different. Here, we don’t use electronic algorithms to tell people what they
might like — we talk to them. Over time I’ve basically come to the conclusion
that Barnes and Noble and Amazon are similar to large grocery stores and we are
like a farmer’s market. Technically we are in the same business, but in many
real ways we are not. There is room for both and both serve different purposes,
at different times, for many people.
At26: What most excites you about the indie bookselling
climate in the country today?
Weyandt: What excites me is that small bookstores can constantly change and re-imagine themselves. A few years back we understood that sustainability, in all its forms, was really gaining traction so we created a section. Books from Food/Cookbooks, Energy and Transit, Economics, Cultural Studies and Current Events all moved. It is now a very strong section for us. We also have lots of mini-sections. New York Review of Books, Oxford's Very Short Introduction Series, Melville House has a few different series we feature as a whole — it’s visually nice and sets us apart from other stores. Customers like the fact that we are constantly changing the look of the store.
At26: How do e-books fit into the indie bookselling world?
Weyandt: That’s still very much up in the air. I know a lot of stores that put a great deal of time and energy into working with Google regarding e-books and then the rug got pulled out. The entire issue is still sorting itself out. One of the main reasons why we haven’t sold e-books is that there is so much gray area. If a customer has a certain e-reader, he/she can only purchase certain books from certain publishers. It’s very confusing to those of us in the book world, and even moreso to the average customer. It really isn’t about some luddite moral vision. That said, I’ve never seen one of our main priorities as keeping up with the Joneses. Our responsibility to our customers is to have an interesting stock and provide good customer service. To this point, the e-book piece of the puzzle doesn’t fit those goals.
At26: What do you most want the book-buying
public to understand about indie bookstores?
Weyandt: That
we aim to be fun and helpful. A huge majority of stores do not involve themselves
in the old “High Fidelity” kind of indie snobbery. What we want to do is to be a community center and neighbor and help people find great books.
Atelier26
is proud to report that Date of Disappearance is now in stock at Micawber’sBooks.
