^_______.___*_._-____
DANCE SHOES
BALLET • JAZZ • TAP
FOLK • MODERN
j CAPEZIO • BLOCH • FREE 13 • CHACOTT
LEO'S TIGHTS TOPS
i CAPEZIO • DANSK1N • DANCE FRANCE
MARIKA • BARISHNIKOV • and MORE!
I Hours: Monday - Saturday 9:30-6:00 !!
j Sundays 12.00-5:00 {I
41 W. Broadway Eugene Downtown Mall
686-2671
Book business is war in the ’90s
CHICAGO (API — A paperback in one hand and
a glass of caffe latte in the other, playwright Rinde
Eckert feast* on the literature and ambienc e at the
Barnes & Noble superstore on Chic ago's North
Side
The store's hunter green exterior, c arpeted floors
and beamed c eilings invite l.c ken and Other read
er* to lose themselves among 100.000 titles
"I like the music 1 love having bookstores where
they have chairs, where they encourage you to sit
down and read." Ec keri said, sitting in the store's
cafe "It's a little hit the sense of a library "
Vast "superstores" are opening in e ities from
New York to I .os Angeles in what some an* c ailing
the bookstore wars of the 1990s.
"The 90s are becoming probably the decade
when the hook business in America is going to
explode more than any other in this century." said
Steve Riggio. exec utive vic e* president of New
York-ltased Barnes A Noble.
Some say the c ompetition is healthy and will
enc ourage more people to read.
"We believe the more bookstore's in Amerii a.
the* better off America is going to In*." Riggio said
Others warn that the huge chains opening many
of the new bibliogiants are bent on driving neigh
borhood bookstores out of business.
"They're not in bookselling las .a use they love it.
They re in it Itec ause it's good business.” said Bill
Kurland, owner of Shakespeare A Co. on New
York's Upper West Side "The chains have been
predatory."
In July. Kroch's A Brentano's. a 86-vear-old
Chicago-based c hain, announced it is closing 10 of
its 19 stores and blamed the failures partly on the*
superstores
In addition to a huge selection, many of the
superstores have music and c nfes. Some lure cus
tomers with author readings and signings Most
offer deep discounts — up to 40 peri cut on .Yen
York Times !>est sellers, for instance.
Almost all superstores keep long hours Barnes
A Noble, for example, is open seven days a week.
9 a m. to 11 p m.
Smaller stores are employing survival tactics.
Platypus Book Shop in suburban Evanston
extended its hours after a Barnes & Noble moved
in nearby But with just two full-time employees
and two part-timers, there's no way to keep up,
owner Margnet Schnabel said.
In Santa Barbara. C'-a 11f . the Earthling Bookshop,
struggling to compete with a Barnes Si Noble two
blocks away, offers to deliver books and expanded
its cafe
"It’s easier to make profit on coffee than on
books But I'm not a restaurateur," owner Penny
Davies i omplained "I am a bookseller"
And Kroch’s. long averse to discounting, is offer
ing 40 percent off best sellers.
According to a study done for the American
Booksellers Association, Americans bought 822
million books, excluding children's titles, between
April 1991 and March 1992, a 7 percent increase
over the same period a year earlier.
Sales during the first four months of 1993
totaled $2 M4 billion, compared with $2.57 billion
a year earlier, according to preliminary estimates
from the Census Bureau.
Some bookshops contending with the super
stores see being small as a virtue.
"We've thought about the books for you. You
don't have to look at every gardening hook ever
published." said Pat Peterson, co-owner of Bar
bara's Bookstore, a five-store Chicago chain.
Some say the deck is stacked against small
stores. Indeed, the Federal Trade Commission in
1988 charged six major publishers with discrimi
nating against independent bookstores by selling
to big chains at lower prices.
But. Davies lamented, "by the time the FTC gets
around to doing what they want to do, a great
many booksellers will be out of business."
Gen. Powell to tell life story in book
NEW YORK (AP) — Gen. Col
in Powell will recount his life
from his early days in the Bronx
to his rise to chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff in a book to
be written for Random House,
which is reportedly paying him
$t> 5 million
The yet-to-be-titled work is
planned for publication in 1995.
Random House announced.
The announcement did not dis
close what Powell would lx* paid
for world rights to the book.
The New York T imes quoted
unidentified rival publishers as
saying Powell would be paid
about Sfi.5 million, $1.5 million
more than retired Gen. Norman
Schwarzkopf reportedly earned
for his memoirs.
Powell's agent, Marvin
Josephson of International Cre
ative Management, declined to
give a figure, but said "It's obvi
ously a contract we're happy
with. There were many publish
ers interested."
The general will work with a
professional writer, Josephson
said, but bas not begun inter
viewing potential collaborators
yet.
Random House said Powell
would begin work on the book
after his retirement at the end of
September.
Powell, who joined the Army
after attending public schools in
the city's South Bronx, is the
first black chairman of the Joint
Chiefs.
Open Your New
Account In
The EMU*
U-LANE-O Credit Union will be opening new
accounts in the EMU* from Monday, September 20
through Monday, September 27 for your convenience!
* You can find us in the lounge area across from the Main Desk Store
U-LANE-O
CREDIT UNION
687-2347 . 11th & Ferry
465-8282 • 2840 Willamette
****************************)
SRO Productions
It's a Riot!
20 characters
14 men, 5 women, 1 dog
2 actors
"Go ahead...laugh it up."—Oregonian
Starring Ralph Steadman
host of KUGN "Ralph Radio"
also starring Jay Horenstein
4 performances Sept. 24, 25, & Oct. 1,2
7:30 P.M. Soreng Theatre. All seats $13.50
Tickets available at Hull ( enter Box Office. EMI) Main Desk
or charge by phone 687-5000
iMMXMMWXMMMKMXMMMWKHWWwiww.-..