The changing nature of bookselling — Book Rack of Cape Girardeau

Talk to John Hendricks for only a few minutes and some things are readily apparent.

He likes people, enjoys talking and loves the product he sells.

Hendricks has run the Book Rack, now at 50 S. Plaza Way in Cape Girardeau, since 1997 — a business started by his parents 20 years earlier.

Back in the late 1970s, John and his brother, Larry, were approaching the end of their high school years and their mother, Doris — an avid reader — wanted a business on which she could focus her energies after her sons went off to college.

"My late father, Jack Hendricks, had read somewhere about 'The Book Rack' in Memphis, so mom and dad drove down there and checked it out," said John, a Scott City native, who said his parents ended up buying a franchise for Cape Girardeau.

The original shop was nearby, at 89 S. Plaza Way, and focused on what Hendricks called "cheap, bargain basement-type books," but he soon developed a larger vision once he took over the store.

"I went to every used bookstore I could in the Midwest and saw their best practices," said the one-time accounting and computer science major at Southeast Missouri State University.

"I realized the stores were all essentially hobbies for their owners, but I wanted this to be my full-time moneymaking job — so I tried to figure out the best way to make that happen."

At a booksellers' convention in 2003 in Chicago, Hendricks met some men putting together software for used bookstores.

As a computer aficionado, Hendricks immediately saw the possibilities in computerizing all his inventory.

"Every used bookstore you ever went into, if you asked the guy at the counter for a James Patterson book, he'd more than likely reply, 'Well, I think they're over there.' A customer would go over to the shelf area at which the clerk pointed and would have to look and look and look for a single title among thousands of books," Hendricks explained. "Effectively, a customer was on his own. That's not efficient in terms of making money because the customer showed up on a lunch break and has to get back to work. He wants to get in and out and doesn't have time to do extensive browsing. If he's doing a lot of looking, he isn't buying."

Orange book shelves, made by Book Rack owner John Hendricks' late father, Jack, were trendy in the late 1970s. In those days, a book shelf painted orange was thought to contrast well with the books placed on them and were considered visually appealing to a potential buyer.Jeff Long

Philosophy

"My vision was then and is now getting people to buy lots of books. This business is about inventory turns, about transactions and about multiple visits. My philosophy, and I train my staff to encourage this, is to get a customer to buy $10 to $12 worth of books within five minutes," Hendricks said.

"In some used bookstores in America, someone might come into a shop, get no help from store employees, and walk out hours later having purchased a single $3 book. That's not a good experience for a customer, and if we followed that practice, we'd make very little money."

The Book Rack's economics are straightforward for someone patronizing his shop.

"When you buy a book from me for $5, when you bring it back, I'll give store credit of half that amount for $2.50. If you come back and keep buying, that return essentially becomes a discount on the next purchase," Hendricks said.

Game changer

Hendricks said all of Book Rack's inventory is today in a cloud-based computer software program called Basil. If the Book Rack has the title, Hendricks or his staff can find it within seconds, knowing precisely where the book can be found on the shelf.

"I didn't want the store to revolve around only me, around my personality and my knowledge," he said. "I can't be at the store all the time and with a software program like the one we have now, I don't have to be."

Inventory

Hendricks said that around 2010, he began transitioning the store from a sole focus on used books to what he calls "used, new and rare" titles.

"Walmart used to sell 10% of all the books available for sale in America but today (the retailer) has a much narrower focus, selling what I call 'greatest hits' books. I saw a market develop to sell new books that were more 'odds-and-ends,'" he said.

For example, Hendricks said he bought copies of the original "Bridgerton" novel, a book that has been spun into a current Netflix series.

"Those books were gone in a week," he recalled.

Hendricks also has bought out the inventory of other small booksellers, recalling, for example, when the Hastings store in Cape Girardeau closed in 2016.

Customers

"I started to read in industry literature there is a trend among young people physically to have a book in their hands. Kids are tired of reading from computer screens at school all day or their personal cellphones," Hendricks said, who noted he frequently has small children in the store. "The trend appears to be worldwide of wanting to hold a book in the hand, wanting a tactile sensation of having a physical object that can be flipped through."

Hendricks has also noticed the look of books has improved.

"Publishing has gotten better. A lot of book covers are prettier now; they're nice and no longer have the grittier look of old-style dime store novels," he said.

Folks at the other end of the age spectrum, Hendricks said, still seem to prefer a book with a spine.

"Older people still like the look, touch and smell of a new book and enjoy the book vibe they get inside a store like this," he said.

Hendricks admits the advent of electronic books took an early toll on his sales.

"When e-books first came out, I noticed they were quite inexpensive. I noticed our sales diminished even though we sold mostly used titles back then. It was easy to get a brand-new book for $10. People began to get in on that."

Hendricks said the Book Rack has participated in release parties for new titles, such as the "Harry Potter" series.

"All of a sudden, we're seeing a whole new iteration of people, the next wave of young people, who want to read a physical book."

Service

Hendricks said the Book Rack adapted to the demands of the pandemic.

"During COVID, we would do curbside service and bring books out to their cars," Hendricks said, adding COVID-19 caused him to invest in carrying new titles.

"People, I noticed, were migrating to us rather than automatically going to Barnes & Noble or Amazon because we actually know the books. We're not just order takers."

The Book Rack is open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

For more information, visit www.welikebigbooks.com and www.facebook.com/CapeBookRack.

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