The secret is out! The Great American Book Show is journeying north to New England. Historical Boston, Mass., will be the host city for GABBS 2009, slated for August 21–22.
The Friday-Saturday event will be held for the first time ever in the Northeast at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston’s Back Bay area. A block of rooms for those attending has been reserved at the connecting Sheraton Hotel.
“We have been looking for a different venue ever since we bought the show,” said Larry May, who along with his wife Valerie, owns the GABBS event, who purchased GABBS three years ago.
The show originated as the Christmas Book Show held annually in Nashville, Tenn., where it was owned by Larry Austin who then sold the show to the Mays.
“Larry Austin had a vision for a summer bargain book show that would be early enough to attract buyers who were looking for fourth-quarter product,” explains current show co-owner Larry May. “When we bought the show, we moved it to Atlanta where we had already established an attendee base through The Spring Book Show and renamed it GABBS (the Great American Bargain Book Show).”
“The GABBS show has now stabilized,” May continued, “and I think the timing is right for the move. Boston is the right city, too. We looked at a lot of different cities and several were suitable, but, for a number of reasons, Boston made the most sense. First, the Northeast region is full of independent bookstores and they are geographically concentrated in a much smaller area than those in the Southeast. Secondly, because of Boston’s proximity to metro New York, the show will be easily accessible to the big buyers and the internationals.”
May pointed out that in addition to all the bargain book vendors located in New York, Boston is in the back yard of two of the largest bargain book vendors in the nation ‑ Strictly By The Book and World Publications. “Before I chose Boston, I asked Strictly and World for their help and they both jumped at the chance to help host the first-ever bargain book show in the Northeast,” he continued.
"The Great American Bargain Book Show, with over 50,000 titles being offered at bargain-basement prices in Boston, is a great opportunity for retailers to stock up for the holiday selling season,” May explained. “Take a tip from the American Booksellers Association - they recently noted that in tight economic times, remainders can offer higher markups than traditional new product. Remainders and overstock, many heavily illustrated, can be sold for far less than newly issued titles, offering a clearly perceived bargain for customers while creating higher profit for retailers."
Initial vendor response to the Boston move has been positive, according to May. "Many of the association trade shows have become so expensive that it is difficult to determine their worth to your company,” explained Steve Slack, SMCo., the largest wholesaler of Christian product in the U.S. “But not so with bargain book shows. These are 'order writing' shows with reasonable costs that give vendors the opportunity to meet old customers and pick up some new ones. The bottom line is that vendors sell a lot of books!” “This will be our first opportunity to showcase our product in the Northeast - I'm excited about the move," Slack said.
"We are excited about the possibility of having a major bargain book show right in our back yard,” said Jason Zutaut, executive vice president of sales for Fall River, Mass.-based Strictly by-the Book, a big bargain book vendor. “The timing is great and the Northeast is a great book region for the independent retailer, yet close enough to New York to attract the big buyers and some internationals as well. Having it here will give Strictly the opportunity to bring customers in to our warehouse both before and immediately after the show and give them one-on-one attention. It's a great opportunity!"
“This is such an exciting and positive development - Boston is beautiful in the summertime,” said Jeff Press, president of World Publications Group of Bridgewater, Mass.. “There is so much literary history in Boston and this is a fantastic opportunity to see many bookstores and other New England accounts who otherwise would not be able to attend GABBS.”
"I think it might be good to move this show to different regions of the country, added Larry Austin, owner of East Tennessee Trade Group of Madisonville, Tenn., the original owner of the show. “We have never had a bargain book show in the Northeast Region and I think this year, especially, a show geared toward 4th quarter sales is more important than ever. Bookstores should definitely take advantage of this."
“Larry May’s shows are always terrific and having it is Boston this year will a pleasant change of venue,” said Wren Franklin, national sales manager, remainder sales, for Thomas Nelson Bargain Books of Nashville, Tenn.
“I think it’s great!” Debbie Smith, Bargain Books Wholesale. “We go from the South where there is a large grouping of independents to the North where there is a larger grouping of stores. They’ll be appreciative of the bargain books and prices,” Smith said.
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