It’s that time of year when a lot of bookstores are doing returns. The season is slower and there are still bills to pay from the massive ordering of books during the holidays, and doing returns really helps with cash flow. But returns also make you look at how you’ve curated your store. The challenge with being a children’s store (any store really, but people have strong opinions about what’s in the kids’ section) is you are judged by customers on the depth of your stock, even if no one buys what’s impressing them.
Some returns are easy to make. Books that are now out in paperback don’t always need the corresponding hardcover. There are always the mistakes made during a frontlist buying session when I realize I’ve purchased every picture book with cute bears, regardless of the story, or I’ve overestimated how many of a new book would sell and now have four left of the display, etc. These are simple decisions often made with a rueful laugh and a promise to do a tighter frontlist order next season.
Then there are the harder decisions. Has a book earned its shelf space? Or am I keeping for purely nostalgic reasons? Or, do I need to have it because it’s a classic? People come to any bookstore with expectations of what makes a good store. Meeting these expectations while also doing the requisite number of inventory turns to remain profitable is a huge balancing act. Do we have the entire Swallows and Amazons series? Of course. Does it sell all the time? No. But we’re not going to return them because they’re great, they can change a child’s life (one reluctant reader years ago read the series and now designs boats), and they are measured by which your store is judged. We get people saying, “I can’t believe you have these!” and seeing those books on our shelves elevates the store in their minds and creates trust in our ability as booksellers. Do we need to have every Caldecott and Newbery winner? Probably not, if shelf space is determined by sales alone. But you can’t not have them. So you strike a balance and hope you’ve got the right mix for everything, but you  know that someone is always going to be disappointed or shocked we don’t have X or Y book.
So as I prepare to tackle returns, I’ll be looking at not only what hasn’t sold in a while, but why do I have it? And if I can’t honestly fight for the book, then it’s gone. But if someone on staff can lobby for a book then we’ll keep it. Maybe we could be more calculating about returns, but there’s always that lovely moment when an adult’s face lights up at seeing that long-lost childhood favorite he can now share with his children that somehow makes me proud we don’t just run the store strictly by the numbers.
Retailers: how do you approach returns at your store? And what types of books do you fight for?