Latest / Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce / How a Local Bookstore Used Storytelling to Beat Amazon
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, you know that old stat that Amazon accounts for roughly half of all book sales in the US? Luna: Yeah, it's depressing if you run an independent bookstore. But I've also seen the flip side—some indies are actually thriving. Lucas: Exactly. There's a shop in Portland called 'Powell's Neighborhood Books' — not the big Powell's, but a smaller offshoot in the Alberta Arts District. Owner Sarah Chen took over in 2022, and in two years she's doubled revenue without opening an e-commerce site. Luna: Wait, no online store at all? How is that possible in 2026? Lucas: She does have a basic website with events and a phone number, but you can't buy books online. She told me her thesis: 'I can't out-Amazon Amazon. So I don't try.' Instead, she doubled down on what a warehouse can't do. Luna: Which is what, exactly? Personal connection? Lucas: Partly. But it's more specific than that. She focused on three things: hyper-local curation, a book concierge service for businesses, and a membership program that's really a storytelling club. Luna: Let's start with the curation. Every bookstore says they curate. Lucas: Right, but Sarah takes it to an extreme. Every book on the shelf has a handwritten staff review—not a printed card, but actual handwriting on a slip of paper tucked inside. She pays her staff an extra two dollars an hour to write those notes. Luna: That's a meaningful cost. How many staff does she have? Lucas: Six part-timers plus herself. So the extra payroll is maybe four hundred dollars a month. But she tracks that people who pick up a book with a review are three times more likely to buy it. And the average transaction for those customers is forty-five dollars versus fifteen for a casual browser. Luna: That's a huge lift. The handwritten element feels authentic—like a friend's recommendation. Lucas: Exactly. And it creates this feedback loop: regulars start bringing in their own recommendations on sticky notes. Sarah pins them to a community board near the register. She told me that board now drives about eight percent of sales. Luna: So the customers become the marketing department. That's smart. Lucas: The second piece is the book concierge service. Sarah noticed that local coffee shops, salons, and boutique hotels often have small book displays for customers. But they don't have the time or expertise to pick the books. Luna: So she offers to curate their shelves for them? Lucas: Yes. She visits each location, learns the vibe, and selects ten to fifteen titles on consignment. The business gets a fresh display every two months, and they split the profit sixty-forty in the store's favor. It started with three accounts; now she has twenty-two. Luna: That's essentially a wholesale channel without the wholesale hassle. And it brings foot traffic from those businesses' customers into her store. Lucas: Right. She puts a bookmark in every concierge book with the store's address and a discount code. She told me about a hotel concierge who sends guests over. Last month, that one account drove fifty-three new customers who spent an average of sixty-two dollars. Luna: Okay, so the handwriting and the concierge service are clever. But membership programs are everywhere—how is hers different? Lucas: Most bookstore memberships give you a discount and maybe a free tote. Sarah's is fifteen dollars a month, and you get one book credit per month—but the book is chosen by the staff. It's a surprise. Luna: Wait, so members don't pick the book? That sounds risky. Lucas: I thought so too. But Sarah frames it as a 'reading adventure.' Each month, members get a wrapped book with a clue written on the outside—'a memoir about learning to cook in your forties' or 'a sci-fi novel set in a flooded New Orleans.' Members unwrap it at home. Luna: That's brilliant. It gamifies the experience. And it forces people to read outside their comfort zone. Lucas: Yes. And the economics work because Sarah buys remainders and overstock at deep discounts—often fifty to seventy percent off retail. Her cost per book averages about four dollars. So fifteen dollars of revenue per member, minus four for the book, leaves eleven dollars of gross profit per member per month. Luna: And how many members does she have now? Lucas: She launched in January 2025 with twenty members. As of May 2026, she has two hundred and forty. That's about two thousand six hundred dollars in monthly gross profit from membership alone. Luna: That's a serious revenue stream. And it's recurring—which most bookstores don't have. Lucas: Exactly. Combine that with the concierge program and the higher transaction value from the handwritten notes, and you can see how she doubled revenue. But there's a deeper lesson here. Luna: I think I know where you're going. It's not about the tactics—it's about the story. Lucas: Yeah. Sarah's whole business is a narrative. Every touchpoint tells a story: the handwritten slip, the mystery book, the community board, the concierge visit. She's not selling books—she's selling belonging. Luna: And that's something Amazon literally cannot do. No algorithm can write a note in your handwriting. No warehouse can curate a shelf for a local cafe. Lucas: Right. And before we go deeper, I want to say—conversations like this, and the shows we do every day at Fexingo, they're only possible because listeners chip in a few bucks a month. It's not a big ask, but it makes a real difference. If these episodes have helped you think differently about your own business, consider tossing a couple dollars at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it really does help us keep the show ad-free and focused on stories like Sarah's. Even five bucks a month adds up. Lucas: Absolutely. So back to the bookstore—what I find most interesting is that Sarah's model is replicable for almost any Main Street business. A hardware store could have a 'project concierge' service for local contractors. A florist could do a monthly mystery arrangement subscription. Luna: Right. The common thread is finding one thing you can do that a giant can't, and making that thing the center of your business. Lucas: Exactly. And it doesn't have to be expensive. Sarah's biggest investment was probably the time to write those notes and visit those businesses. The cost in dollars is modest. Luna: But there's a question I have: can this work outside a place like Portland? What if you're in a smaller town or a less hip neighborhood? Lucas: I think it can, but you have to adjust the story. In a small town, the concierge service could be for the local diner or the hardware store. The membership could be a 'town book club' where everyone reads the same title each month. The key is to embed yourself in the community's identity. Luna: So it's less about the specific tactics and more about the mindset of radical locality. Lucas: Yes. And Sarah's numbers prove it works. I asked her what her five-year goal is, and she said she doesn't want to open a second location. She wants to deepen the relationships she already has. Luna: That's refreshing in an era where everyone's trying to scale. Sometimes the best move is to go deeper, not wider. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the takeaway for anyone listening who runs a small business: you don't have to beat Amazon at its own game. You just have to play a game Amazon can't play. Luna: Well said. And if you want to see those handwritten reviews, Powell's Neighborhood Books is on Alberta Street in Portland. Or you can check out their event calendar online. Lucas: And if you have a story of your own, we'd love to hear it. Reach out to us at Fexingo. But for now, thanks for listening. Luna: See you next time.