Advocacy

Don't Wait... it may be too late!
By Mark Palmore, Institutional Store Advocate and Executive Director

By now you have either just finished rush or it will be upon you shortly.  Every bookstore person I know lives for rush.  With a great deal of confidence, I can say that you would never go into a rush season without being fully prepared.  Is that also the case regarding the possibility of your store being leased?  Are you prepared to battle with the contract management companies and present a strong case to your administration that your store should remain institutional/self-op?

Recently, I received a call from a concerned store manager who said, “The two major contract management companies toured our store last week, can you help us?”   I answered yes, but I told him it may be too late.  After discussing the entire situation with him he said, “I guess I should have been a little bit better prepared, but I thought there was no chance we would ever be leased.”  Unfortunately, I have had this same conversation over and over again since we started the Institutional Store Advocacy Program here at Connect2One.

Managers/Directors of stores that are about to be leased, or have just gone lease, always wish they had been better prepared!  They wish they would have been proactive!  If you are reading this and you feel it can not happen to you and your store, believe me, you are wrong.  It can happen to anyone, especially if your store is successful, well run and profitable — because those are the stores they want!  Don’t wait until it is too late!

The Connect2One Institutional Store Advocacy Program is dedicated to helping all institutional/self-op stores stay institutional.  If you or anyone you know needs information on our program please contact me personally at 800-563-9034, mpalmore@connect2one.com or contact your Connect2One Membership Director.