Driving home from the beach today, we stopped into a bookstore. The store is in a nice, affluent area near the water. It’s not a store that I work with, and they didn’t know me. Sometimes it’s fun to be anonymous in a bookstore, and to be treated like a “regular” customer instead of an employee of a very large publisher. From my exchange with the store owner, however, I don’t think I’m a typical customer.
My youngest has fallen in love with Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, having read The Lightning Thief in a day, so we grabbed the other 4 books in the series, plus the first book in the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. My husband found The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross, an excellent look at history through the music of the 20th century. Ordinarily I would also buy something for my oldest daughter, but she has a stack of books out from the library and I want her to finish those first. And me, well, I have a lot to read. No need to buy anything today.
So we took our 6 books up to the cash register. There were two people working, a woman and a man. While the woman rang up my purchases, the man engaged my youngest, asking what she was reading, had she read The Lightning Thief yet, etc. And then came the following exchange:
Bookstore man: “Are you a member of our frequent buyer program?”
Me: “No, we don’t live around here.”
Bookstore man: “Oh. Well, would you like to move near here?”
Me: “Sure, if you’ll buy us a house.”
Bookstore man: “Hmmmm. How many books do you buy?”
I’m not sure that I’d recommend this marketing technique to any of my bookstore customers, even though the real estate market is down. Still, it made me laugh. And yes, I’ll go back, and buy more books, next time I’m in the area. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll even pick up the local real estate book….
image credit: striatic via Flickr
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I’m sure I wasn’t the only person to suggest Rick Riordan and the Erin Hunter Warrior series, but I’m thrilled that you got them for your kids. As I said before, my son loves BOTH series and I’m sure yours will, too.
Teresa, yes, both series came from BOTNS readers’ suggestions, so thank you! They are big hits with the younger, and the oldest just started Lightning Thief tonight — I hope it will grab her as well.
I LOVE the Percy Jackson series! I’ve been desperately trying to get the 5th one in time for my upcoming vacation (my boyfriend and I are both eager to read it), but it’s been very popular in the libraries!
I really like when these kinds of things happen, especially (but not only, obviously) in bookstores… Even just an extra second to have the conversation is nice and adds a little something to the overall impression of the store.
Hey, awesome website. I actually came across this on Ask Jeeves, and I am really happy I did. I will definately be returning here more often. Wish I could add to the conversation and bring a bit more to the table, but am just absorbing as much info as I can at the moment.
Thank You
Houses for Sale in Drogheda
Hey, awesome website. I actually came across this on Bing, and I am stoked I did. I will definately be revisiting here more often. Wish I could add to the post and bring a bit more to the table, but am just taking in as much info as I can at the moment.
Thank You
Property For Sale Ireland
I must say I am always more astonished with internet marketing on account of seeing the way the the current generations communicate with the world through their technology. My 11 year old nephew just took me a site they had created to keep track of popular topics for their peer group. They were asking about how to launch some advertising on the site to . We are extremely proud of them.
Really interesting post. Thanks for writing it.