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Bookstore

November 21, 20198

When he was browsing in a bookstore, he found it. He would often go to this bookstore. The bookstore was not so far from his neighborhood, his working place, and his gym; it was also near the bank of the river where he would ride his bike. This bookstore was rather big, they also rented DVDs, CDs, as well as books. They also sold used books as well. Recently, they expanded their store selection by selling well designed utensils, stationeries, and even cosmetics for women. But the item that he was attracted to was in the regular book area. There were many A4 sized cardboard boxes piled up in the corner. He didn't notice them because their size was the same as magazines and one couldn't really distinguish from a thick magazine, an encyclopedia or something else. The contents in the A4 sized boxes varied. Some contained a hand bag, an apron, a hat, an herb set, cosmetics, even accessory, like earrings or broaches for women. For men, there were A4 boxes of Godzilla, an army knife, an army flashlight, an army telescope, etc. Their prices were mainly between $10 and $20. He thought that because of business difficulties in the book industry, maybe to sell things like these would help both the bookstore and the products' makers. He also noticed that on the ladies' magazine corner, there were a lot of magazines that had a thin box between the pages. They were a gift, like a pouch or kitchen gloves. It reminded him of his young days, when some monthly magazines for kids were sold with toys. Maybe the women's magazines had a hard time to sell without offering a free gift.   He thought about these offerings and got an idea about this method: One: If it was a bag shop, bags were displayed by putting them on the shelves or hanging then on the stands, so cost performance per square foot was not good. A4 box could be stacked up. Two: If it was a bag shop, they could sell one item only once. They couldn't display the same things more than twice. The maker would need to prepare different designs and different colors. It would take much cost. To make the same thing would reduce their costs. As bookstores got used to accept books from many different publishers, they might not feel troublesome to increase items. As there were many bookstores in this country, the products' makers were able to make a lot of the same things, which would make the cost relatively low. They could make products using a famous designer, or out of durable material, etc. This is like the UNIQLO method. As long as the goods had a certain quality, customers don't care to wear the same clothes. They like the brand image of their item. Three: Maybe this was the biggest reason: Bookstores can return books that don't sell. This was probably the biggest difference between other shops. If it was a clothing shop, and if there were remaining merchandise, they would have to sell the items as a sale. But bookstores don't have this risk. So they can receive easily the makers' products without any risks. This is a Win-Win situation for everyone. The product that caught his eye was a folding compact chair. He had been looking for something like this for a while. When he would ride his bike, he sometimes thought that if there was something to sit on, he could enjoy the scenery a bit or take a small break. There was a picture on the thin A4 cardboard box. The thing seemed to be made of one or two pieces of hard plastic plates. It looked easy to set-up, by one action. It seemed light. On the box was written, "Seven hundred thousand units sold." It costed about ten dollars. He thought about it. He wanted to look at the chair but the box openings were sealed. He went ahead and bought it. At home he opened the box and took out the chair. It was as he had expected. It was made out of a strong plastic plate, and there were crease lines where the chair would fold. He opened it at the center and pushed the top part down. It was an easy action, and soon it became a fifteen centimeter high stool. He sat on it carefully. The sitting part was a little bit too small for his butt, but the curved shape of the top plate allowed his butt to fit on it comfortably. Thinking about the price and the lightness of it, the stool wasn't bad at all. He enjoyed sitting on it for a while imagining how he would use it when he rode his bike. After a while, he stood up and folded it back, then put it back into the box. He put the box in his knapsack. It fit suitably. He took it out once more and set up the stool. He was like a child before an excursion. He had to say that new things have some attraction in spite of their prices.

*distinguish :識別する
*offering :供給物
*square foot:平方フィート
*durable :耐久性のある
*merchandise :商品
*crease line :折り目