New owners get customers Hooked on Books

Kraft and Slattery are the new owners of one of Springfield’s biggest and best-known used bookstores, Hooked on Books at 2756 S. Campbell Ave. in the Village Shopping Center.

Kraft and Slattery were working last year as business brokers when Hooked on Books came onto the market. Upon seeing the listing, Kraft said, “Hey, we need to look at this.” Look they did, and as Slattery put it, “When we saw what the business had done financially, there was no question.”

They bought the store and left the brokerage business behind.

“We have over 100,000 books,” said Shawn Kraft. “We don’t stock new books, but we get all the current ones within two or three weeks of their release.”

Kraft, a native Springfieldian, has been fond of the store since he was in junior high. “This was my place to have fun book adventures,” he said.

Kraft and Slattery met in 2001 when Kraft went to work in Slattery’s bicycle shop in Chicago. A year and a half ago, Kraft returned to Springfield and became a business broker for First National Business Corp., matching up commercial real estate buyers and sellers, and Slattery later joined him in that business.

On the bookshelf

In neatly arranged shelves throughout 3,200 square feet of space, the store stocks newer and older paperbacks, hardbacks and audio books as well as first-edition, out-of-print and other collectible books. It buys, sells and trades all types of books.

“We try to make it like a one-stop shop from the newest books to the oldest books,” Kraft said. “You can clear off your bookshelf and come in and trade it in for newer books.”

The store’s prices are based on cover price, Kraft said. “An $8 paperback will sell for $4. More expensive hardbacks might sell for half or a little less,” he said. Trade-in and cash prices also are based on cover price. Customers can also build up trade or cash credit with the store for future use.

Kraft and Slattery also appraise books and book collections free of charge.

Buying Hooked on Books has so far proved a good decision, both men say. “We have customers who’ve come in for 20 years,” Slattery said. “It’s amazing.”

Kraft added that “some come from 30 or 40 miles away, and make regular stops.”

Cash sales, collectibles

“We get from 1,600 to 2,200 cash sales per month,” Slattery said. “We do a huge, huge romance category here … that’s our biggest one every day. We’re also starting to sell almost a collectible a day. We have almost 2,000 collectibles.”

Kraft declined to disclose 2005 revenues, but midyear numbers are up 10 percent, he said.

The collectibles include books dating back to 1649; first editions by Tom Clancy, Steven King, Nora Roberts and many other writers; and vintage children’s literature, such as the Nancy Drew and Tom Swift series.

Kraft and Slattery also have made some major changes. The store now lists its entire inventory on a Web site at www.hookedonbooksadventure.com. Customers can find books in the online catalog by category, title or author. They also can place holds on books for pickup or order them for delivery and pay online with Visa, MasterCard or Discover credit cards.

Increased business has led to extended store hours. The store is now open 9 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday and 1–5 p.m. Sunday.

Melissa Miller, property manager, free-lance writer and mother of two, has been a devoted Hooked on Books customer for more than a decade.

“It was my entertainment, and I also bought a lot of children’s books,” she said, “especially series books like ‘Goosebumps,’ ‘The Saddle Club’ and ‘The Boxcar Children.’ When you’ve got little kids reading two books a week, that can really add up.”

As for the store’s new incarnation, she said, “I’m very impressed. They seem to have more recent titles now, and everybody seems really pleasant and helpful.”

San Diego native Dale Gilbert started Hooked on Books in 1983. Gilbert sold it to Lavonne Foster in June 1984, and Foster, now retired, operated the store until selling it to Kraft and Slattery in December.

Hooked on Books

Founded: 1983

Owners: Shawn Kraft and Tom Slattery

Address: 2756 S. Campbell Ave., in the Village Shopping Center

Phone: (417) 882-3397

Fax: (417) 882-1537

Web site: www.hookedonbooksadventure.com

Products/Services: Sale and trade of used books, first-edition and other collectible books, and audio books; free appraisals of old books

Employees: 7

Cracked Open

Q&A with bookstore co-owner Shawn Kraft:

Q: What is the most appealing aspect of a bookstore?

A: “When you walk into a bookstore, it’s like your own choose-your-own-adventure. You can choose where you want to be, where you want to live for the moment.”

Q: What author and/or genre is most popular right now?

A: “We just can’t keep Dan Brown in because of ‘The DaVinci Code.’ People are also hitting the religion section now that they’ve seen the movie. They’re coming in and looking for more insights on the whole history of Christianity, their own problems to solve or codes to crack.”

Q: How has technology affected the used book business?

A: “A lot of the collectibles have dropped in price because computers and the Internet have unearthed everything.”

Q: What is your opinion of buying books online?

A: “You can shop online if you know what you’re looking for. You don’t get to browse, though. You don’t get to hold the book in your hands and feel it and turn the pages. And you don’t get to read any of it before you buy.”