A constant that I have spoken often about which is one of my favorite places in the world to visit with my wife is the Books A Million store at Bridgewater Falls near my home in Liberty Township, Ohio. The ideal night out for the two of us is to have dinner at Chilis, then walk over to Books A Million to buy a nice supply of books for the week. We purchase a lot of books, we buy them online, we buy them from other bookstores, such as Barnes and Nobel in West Chester, or down at Newport on the Levy, but none more than Books A Million where the gigantic pillars at the entrance make book buying such an epic event. There is nothing that makes my heart go “pitter patter” more than the purchase of a new book—it doesn’t matter if its historical, paranormal, social science, comic, philosophy, fiction, or whatever the topic—a new book in my hands or my wife’s is the best feeling in the world. In our home there are over 500 books just from the Books A Million store mentioned. Yet sadly, we were greeted this past Friday with a tragic knowledge—that Books A Million’s lease with Bridgewater Falls has expired, and now because of changes according to people close to the situation—the rates are going up and Books A Million will be closing that Bridgewater Falls location. This news was equivalent to discovering that a dear friend was about to die—the impact will be long-lasting in my family.
When I bring so much attention to the cost of school levies or high taxes in general, it is places like Books A Million who suffer the most. Only a few years ago Fairfield Schools passed a school levy, and as lease rates expire for many of the stores in a complex like Bridgewater Falls, the many apartments up and down RT 4, the various shops along the same corridor, property owners have little choice but to pass along the cost of those tax increases to leasers who then have to figure out if they can make enough money to pay a lease. In the case of Books A Million they sell books which a lot of people enjoy, but that industry has been deeply impacted by online sales, and digital downloads. Books A Million has diversified, they’ve brought in toys and other gadgets to stay relevant, and had been holding their own. But all it takes is a rate increase to mitigate their diminishing marginal return and make it no longer profitable for them to operate.
Pro tax people will state quite openly that the landlords—in this case Bridgewater Falls should absorb the higher taxes—but that’s never how things work. They have a diminishing marginal return to meet as well, and they know where their profit margins are, and what they are willing to do to perform the task. In the case of Books A Million cost increases that were applied to Bridgewater Falls two to three years ago are just now having an impact on Books A Million because this is the period that their lease is up. The cause may have occurred many years prior yet the impact is just now being felt. When stores close and vacate an area this is most of the time the primary cause. This is why there are old strip malls in towns like Middletown, and Hamilton who have long seen their better days sitting mostly empty. Taxation destroyed their ability to attract diversified businesses—and the ones they had leave.
I have had talks with people close to the new development of Liberty Center just down the road—which will be a high-end type of enterprise—and part of those talks is to bring in a Joseph and Beth bookstore—if they can manage to secure the interest. When Newport on the Levy was built, the developer worked hard to bring in the Barnes and Noble bookstore. Large developments like these require something intellectual to mix with the restaurants, the clothing stores, and other variety shops. It is psychologically refreshing to see a book store in a shopping complex—even for those who don’t read a lot of books. A bookstore presence is a cultural asset to the shopping experience. When Tri-County Mall lost their three bookstores over ten years ago, the clientele of Tri County Mall declined tremendously. The same thing happened at nearby Cincinnati Mills–they lost their large Walden book store which was replaced by a shoe store and never drew the same type of numbers again. The mall tried to appeal to a younger crowd by allowing bars and nightspots to soak up lease space, but it never worked. It destroyed the culture of Cincinnati Mills. Without a bookstore to serve as an intellectual anchor to the shopping experience the demographic shift changed unfavorably and the mall died. When Borders Books and Music left the Princeton Pike shopping center across the street from Tri-County Mall that entire strip mall died on the vine. The overall quality of the entire complex declined considerably leaving the next door restaurant of Red Squirrel alone and defenseless. I used to have breakfast at that restaurant nearly every day. Before the internet I would purchase newspapers from all over the country at Borders and go next door to the Red Squirrel to read them over a breakfast omelet. Bookstores, even for people who don’t go to them very much, raise the profile of any shopping experience and when they leave, shortly after, the mall, strip outlet, or overall shopping experience declines rapidly. Out of all the bookstores mentioned, the one at Bridgewater Falls was our favorite. We often would go to the Mexican restaurant that was in the center of the Bridgewater complex basically because I have had so many political enemies that it was nice to eat there tucked away like we were in a cave. I didn’t have to worry about stray “aggression” coming at me while we ate. The design of that Mexican restaurant afforded that could actually relax with my wife while dining out. After dinner we’d walk around the corner to Books A Millon and shop for countless hours. Well, the Mexican restaurant is gone and Bridgewater has not been able to fill the space—likely the curb appeal versus lease rates is no longer compatible. When Books A Million leaves, a giant empty building will greet visitors right at the shopping complex entrance. Bridgewater Falls may think that they can fill the space with a shoe store, or something like a Kirklands—which failed at the location right across the street just a few years ago—but likely, once Books A Million leaves Bridgewater Falls, the shopping experience at that location will begin to decline over the next decade. Books A Million was one of those stores which made Bridgewater Falls attractive from the outset—it was an anchor for that shopping complex, and it likely won’t survive the long haul.
My wife and I have been debating for months our attendance of Bridgewater Falls versus the new Liberty Center where again I have been asking for a Joseph and Beth bookseller there. She is a very loyal person and she would not abandon Bridgewater Falls because of what Books A Million has meant to her. Likely we are the extreme case, but we may not go to Bridgewater Falls again without a bookstore present. We will have to go to Liberty Center when it opens or go to the Streets of West Chester. However, the Barnes and Noble there isn’t in healthy shape either. If not for the 50 Shades of Grey popularity, Barnes and Nobel were very close to bankruptcy. My hope is that these bookstores can hold on until the new Star Wars films spike book sales in ways that bookstores require to keep brick and mortar outlets open—but there isn’t any guarantee. Bookstores can only produce so much in sales, people enjoy knowing they are there—they don’t typically buy as many books as my wife and I do, but they enjoy seeing them in shopping complexes as a psychological reassurance that they are attending a place of culture. Without a bookstore, a shopping complex takes on a nature of just a commercial center—and it quickly loses its appeal.
The high cost of doing business imposed by taxation hits hardest businesses that have low profit margins—like bookstores. While it might take longer to affect stores like Forever 21 or Target, the first retail experiences to be shaped by high costs are places like Books A Million. Once bookstores leave a shopping complex, it is usually just a matter of time before the shopping complex becomes a center of slum. People still go to the restaurants, and buy cloths, but the overall quality of the shopping experience declines rapidly—and the amount of money a place like Bridgewater Falls can command with lease rates becomes substantially less. When bookstores leave, the “dollar stores” move in, and with those a lower type of shopper comes with them—not the kind who spend a lot of money on other stores. A slow death begins.
I will miss you guys at Books A Million. My wife will miss you even more—and so will the rest of my family. If I could pick one thing that would stay the same—it would be that Books A Million could stay at Bridgewater Falls—but due to the high taxation coming to the Butler County area—the path to gradual decline is inevitable. Books A Million is simply the first casualty because it is most vulnerable with a perceived value that is less obvious.
Rich Hoffman
The Overmanwarrior 