Friendly duel for bookstores

The opening of the Barnes and Noble bookstore hs not hurt smaller area bookstores. In 1996, when the University announced the construction of a new campus bookstore run by one of the biggest names in the business, the campus' longtime independent booksellers -- namely the Penn Book Center and House of Our Own Bookstore -- feared that they would lose business to their larger rival. But four years since the announcement, it seems that the conflict between the book super-store and the independents never fully developed. Today, ask the owners of the independent bookstores how their businesses are doing and they'll say just fine -- Barnes and Noble and all. Then walk inside any of the three and the secrets to their respective successes will immediately become clear. Indeed, because the bookstores receive orders from different departments and often serve students with specified needs and interests, the independent bookstores and Barnes and Noble are engaged in a healthy competition that is based more on their differences than on their similarities. All parties seem to agree that the Penn community has reached an alternative solution to the corporate-versus-neighborhood bookstore conflict that has plagued college campuses across the county. "The three stores have actually coexisted now for almost 30 years," says Deborah Sanford, the owner of House of Our Own. "There is an amicable and cooperative sort of feeling among the three." "The stores are serving some very specific groups within their niche. In a university, you want that diversity to exist," adds Kevin Renshaw, the manager of the Penn Bookstore. A Long History of Service The House of Our Own and the Penn Book Center are long-standing booksellers on campus, having each existed for several decades. Over the years, the two have earned reputations for intimate service, deep knowledge of their stock and, above all else, their historical traditions. In 1962, the Nickles family opened the Penn Book Center on the corner of 34th and Walnut streets. Since then, the establishment has moved two blocks west, and then back. But it remains under the ownership of Achilles and Olga Nickles. The Penn Book Center was forced to move out of the former University Bookstore building at 36th and Walnut streets when it was demolished in 1998 to make room for Huntsman Hall. Surprisingly, despite its proximity to the new Penn Bookstore at Sansom Common, the location gives the store an advantage of sorts over their competitors. The Penn Book Center is located between two of the largest School of Arts and Sciences departments -- History, in the 3401 Walnut complex, and English, across the street in Bennett Hall. "When a professor orders from us, he/she knows exactly who they are speaking to," current Manager Keith Helmuth says. History Professor Bruce Kuklick has been purchasing books at the Penn Book Center since he was in graduate school at Penn in the 1960s. His entire department orders from the two independent bookstores, as does the English Department. "I am a firm believer in tradition, and Barnes and Noble is not my idea of a bookstore. Ultimately, they don't care about selling books, they care about making a profit. [At the Penn Book Center] they are not businessmen, they are book men," Kuklick said. English Professor Dan Traister, the curator of the Annenberg rare book and manuscript library, is a frequent shopper at the store. "The people at Penn Book Center care about you. It is nice to have two to three eyes watching the kind of things you buy and shmoozing with you about books." "Book People Who Care" For an almost entirely different group of people, House of Our Own, like the Penn Book Center, has provided the community with the service of "book people who care." Located in an old row house at 3920 Spruce Street, House of Our Own was started almost 30 years ago, when two Penn graduates decided to open a small bookstore on campus. Beyond stocking an eclectic mix of literary and academic texts, on the second floor of House of Our Own resides the only second-hand book collection in West Philadelphia. Like the Penn Book Center, House of Our Own's loyal clientele -- including many Penn professors in the humanities -- are largely responsible for its survival. "Not only do the faculty members shop consistently at House of Our Own, but professors try to get their students to utilize the resources of the independent bookstore," Sanford explains. Then there are the scenarios that play themselves out in the store each day. This time, it's a Penn student who walks in searching for a book for one of his classes. As he approaches the counter asking for assistance, Sanford immediately recognizes the course and the professor. When the student says the professor is running behind in the course syllabus, Sanford jokes that this book will take even longer to finish than the last one. "We cater to a different clientele," Sanford says. "You can see serious book lovers moving slowly from shelf to shelf." Yet, the owners say their intimate setting -- with cushioned rocking chairs waiting invitingly between the dusty shelves -- is the true selling point. Sanford says, "There is a quiet, reflective atmosphere which is very good especially for people developing ideas for dissertations for papers." But the store's smaller size, which accounts for much of its charm, is often a negative for some students. Indeed, in the beginning of the semester, when shelves and extra tables are crammed with books, students elbow their way into the narrow entrance and wait in lines that often stretch out the door. Still, people shop -- and will continue to shop -- at House of Our Own, Sanford explains, because there's no other bookstore quite like it on campus. "The important thing is that we connect people to books." The Corporate Giant What the Penn Bookstore does, according to its proponents at Penn and in the surrounding community, is provide for both the University and West Philadelphia as well. "The Bookstore is truly an anchor store in the neighborhood," Renshaw says. Figures do not lie: The Bookstore, the largest of all the Barnes and Noble-owned bookstores on college campuses, has approximately 15,000 transactions weekly. Situated in the middle of Sansom Common, and flanked by Xando, Urban Outfitters and the Inn at Penn -- among others -- the Penn Bookstore is part of Penn's attempt to help revamp University City. "The new bookstore certainly redefined the landscape, but at the same time, forces the smaller bookstore to strengthen its quality," explains Vice President for Business Services Leroy Nunery, whose office manages the bookstore. The Penn Bookstore now includes the Computer Connection, a cafe, a foreign language center and a reading section that has 135,000 books. Much to the happiness of the store's management, the sale of books not used for courses has doubled in size over the past two years. It's not to say that everything is perfect with the bookstore, though. Textbooks are often not available early in the semester because the professors have ordered them too late, and the sale of textbooks -- which include all of the sciences and most of the books used for Wharton and foreign language courses -- has been consistent since before the store's expansion. It is the only section of the store that has not seen an increase. "A lack of growth in textbook sales is due to the Internet," Renshaw explains, referring to the increase in online booksellers like Amazon.com.

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