Discovering the Potential in Special Markets

by Judith Rosen -- Críticas, 4/1/2002

Special markets--airport stores, pharmacies, groceries, and discounters--are an important segment of English-language book sales, but for Spanish-language publishers and wholesalers they are only now beginning to be considered as another option for sales. Bookstores dedicated to Spanish-language titles are so few and far between that Richard Reinoso, who manages World Educational Guild, a wholesaler in Wilmington, CA, jokes, "Bottom line, I consider Spanish-language bookstores special markets." One special market that has recognized the potential for book sales is the music chain Ritmo Latino, headquartered in Neptune, NJ. Over the past two years, it has added book sections to 15 of its 40 music stores. With plans to make books part of each new store's inventory, head buyer Alberto Urive regards Ritmo Latino as both "the only Latin record store chain in the U.S., and the only Spanish book chain."

Special markets constitute only a small percentage of Spanish-language book sales for many U.S. publishers, but that isn't stopping them from looking seriously at how to expand sales there or break in entirely. At Simon & Schuster's Libros en Español imprint, for example, associate editor Marcela Landres notes that "special markets are growing, but [the percentage of sales] is under 5%." For S&S, which looks to gift stores as one of its alternative markets, empowerment books like Iyanla Vanzant's Entretanto: Descubra so proprio yo y el amor que ansía (In the Meantime: Finding Yourself and the Love You Want, 1999) do best. Bilingual children's books also do well. "They sell in smaller gift shops regionally," says Landres.

Going Where the Shoppers Are

In 2001, Raquel Suarez, book department manager for the Miami-based wholesaler Spanish Periodicals and Book Sales, saw sales rise at Miami International Airport, which is the biggest airport outlet for Spanish-language books. "Books have really skyrocketed," she says. But that's not because of the extra time passengers spend in airports as a result of 9/11. Instead, she attributes the change to the fact that "we diversified. In the past year, I've seen a switch to more intellectual reading. A lot of authors writing in Spanish are doing well."Popular nonfiction does well, too; Suarez sold thousands of copies of Richard Carlson's No te ahogues en un vaso de agua (Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, Grijalbo Mondadori) last year.

At the Hudson Group, the retail division of Hudson News, a magazine and book distributor that services over 200 stores in airports and transportation centers, "reading materials are way up," notes senior v-p Mike Joachim. "How many Spanish-language books we sell really depends on the locale. We have a much larger Spanish-language book section in the Port Authority bus station in New York than we have in the Newark airport." For him, the suggested retail price is not an issue, especially since the chains have cut back on discounting. Hudson stores tend to do well with translations of novels by Grisham and other U.S. best sellers, as well as with inspirational and New Age titles, such as Richard Webster's Feng Shui para el exito y la felicidad (Feng Shui for Success and Happiness, Llewellyn, 2000). "People want the things they know," says Joachim.

Tapping Bodegas

Once thought to be the market for Spanish-language books, bodegas' influence was overhyped, according to Raquel Roque, CEO and co-owner of Downtown Book Center, a distributor and bookstore in Miami. "It's not that they are doing any less; they are doing the same," she says. "Bodegas are still a market for cookbooks of regional cuisine, immigration books, celebrity stuff, and dictionaries." To reach bodegas and other small independent outlets, such as record stores and New Age stores, Roque uses direct mail and encourages customers to order using her toll-free number. "These are very small mom-and-pop businesses; these are not people who have e-mail," she says. Instead many rely on word-of-mouth, and occasionally UPS, to make their book selections. One of Roque's favorite stories involves a shipment of books that went to the wrong record store. The owners opened the box, sold the books, and reordered. And to top that, the store that was supposed to receive the shipment reordered, too.

Pay Less

Christian book publishers and distribution centers are also trying to break into the food chain, although many, like Choice Books in Harrisonburg, VA, a consortium of eight regional distributors, have concentrated their efforts on larger groceries and pharmacies. Wade Martin, who handles national accounts for Choice Books, does best with inspirational Christian marriage and family titles, Bibles, and children's books. His clients include Fiesta Mart in Houston and Dallas/Ft. Worth, Giant Food in Baltimore and Washington, DC, and Publix in Florida, as well as CVS in New York City and Washington, DC. "That customer is typically price conscious," notes Martin, who sells mostly paperbacks and a few low-end children's hardcovers in the $10 to $12 range. Despite Martin's proactive sales approach to Spanish-language books, they still constituted less than 2% of Choice's total sales last year. But these numbers don't seem to concern Martin--given the most recent census, he still views it as a constant and growing market.

Spanish publisher Santillana USA has started penetrating grocery stores, music stores, discounters, and price clubs in a big way with its mass-market Punto de Lectura line, which it started with Ediciones B last year. Director of literature Silvia Matute finds that "buyers especially like pocket books because they're cheaper. If they can get a book for $9.99, why should they pay $25.99?" Big box stores like Wal-Mart and Target are experimenting with Spanish-language book selections. According to Lucy Sastoque, a sales representative for outside sales for American Wholesale Book Company, which is owned by Books-A-Million, "the Spanish market is growing." As in other special markets, inspirational titles are doing well. Like Martin, Sastoque encounters price resistance. "People wouldn't mind paying $25 for a good book," she says, "but not $18 for a mass market."

World Educational Guild has gotten into mass retailers via a different route, using the store-within-a-store concept. "I got my start with the Central Furniture, TV & Appliance stores [in Los Angeles] with a six-foot table outside their entrances," says Reinoso. Then in July 1997 he installed his first Libreria Familiar in a Sears, Roebuck & Co. outlet in Los Angeles, and has since opened more. The secret, he says, is that "we take the direct-sales concept and put it into traffic flow. With the Latin community, you have to show your wares."

Until more Spanish-language bookstores open or more chain superstores and general bookstores attract enough Spanish-language readers in to begin broadly selling Spanish-language titles, readers will shop for books where they pick up their groceries and prescriptions or wait for a flight. These special markets may just be where it's at.

Rosen is a freelance writer in Cambridge, MA, and New England correspondent for PW.