Stephannie,
The more I hear about Barnes & Noble, the more I like what I hear! Today the Community Relations Manager called me to find out if she could answer any questions about the Bookfair and even offered to come to the school to speak to our PTO in person so she could answer everyone's questions. If everyone on their staff is as professional and personable as she is, I would be quite confident in inviting all our school supporters to attend a bookfair at their store. Wow!
From my understanding, B & N gives a percentage. Unfortunately, my schedule has not gelled with my store mgr and CRMs lately, so we have not had a chance to work out the details. You can do an actual in-school fair, like Scholastic does, the school gets a percentage, and the community gets vouchers that they take to their local B & N to spend. Does that help?
Stephannie, does B&N give a percentage of all the profits for the day (or time period) or just from those people that identify themselves as part of the school? Borders was clear that the funds were only from the people who went up to the table we had to set up.
Hi all! New here, been lurking a lot, and have learned much from this fantastic bunch. I hope this is not construed as an "ad", but I am a 2 year bookseller at Barnes and Noble, and also am currently starting the PTO for 2 elementary schools. In general, B & N has a reputation for giving back to the community it is located in--in fact, each store's stock is tailored to the tastes of local readers. Therefore, what you find in my Arizona store will not necessarily be what you find in a store in Des Moines, IA. The community relations manager's JOB is to partner with local schools and governments specifically to encourage reading and love of books. I have actually been talking to my store manager and CRM lately to look into doing a B & N book fair in our schools. As a shopper, PTO mom, and employee of Barnes and Noble, I can assure you that the service you receive would be quality, and B & N prides itself on booksellers that are knowledgeable readers first. I can't speak for Borders, but I can tell you the dynamic of the 2 companies is very different.
