WSJ story about the Politics & Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C.

New Ending

Succession Plot At Bookstore Took A Surprise Twist

Feisty Staffers, Key to Success, Resisted the Change; Few Words of Support

'People Aren't Interchangeable'

By JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
March 21, 2005; Page A1

WASHINGTON -- Barbara Meade and Carla Cohen thought they had a graceful exit strategy... Rather than suddenly imposing a new boss on their staff of 50, which they say they thought of as a family, they decided to move more slowly. They wanted to let Mr. Gainsburg work his way up in the business, learning all aspects of it. They also decided not to tell the staff that he was preparing to take over the store. "It was a trial period, to see if he really wanted to do this," says Ms. Meade, 69 years old. The subterfuge, however well-intentioned, wound up tearing the place apart, enraging people who worked there and creating wounds that are still healing.

(snip)

Largely by depending on their staff, Ms. Meade and Ms. Cohen bucked the nationwide trend that saw hundreds of independent bookstores close during the 1990s. Although Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc. each operate large stores within two miles, the 10,000-square-foot Politics & Prose in Washington has thrived. The store generated more than $6 million in sales for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2004. Ms. Meade says it earns more than 6% after tax, but declines to be more specific.

To compete with the big chains, the staff needed to be smart, motivated and charged with responsibility. Staff recommendations led to the launch of such recent additions as graphic novels, which are tales told in comic-book form, and DVDs. The store's music buyer, says Ms. Meade, "operates completely in a separate bailiwick" and has nearly doubled sales in a year. Many employees have carved out their own fiefs -- mysteries, children's books, history -- and brook little interference from the owners. "They say: 'Don't interfere; butt out,' " says Ms. Meade. "And we do. You have to be hostile to authority to work here."

(snip)

Employees worried that Mr. Gainsburg would reduce staff, trim hours, even fire people. Inside the store, the gossip was that he was looking to cut dead weight and eliminate redundancies, recalls Mark LaFramboise, a buyer and one of the two people who had congratulated Mr. Gainsburg. Employees of the bookstore exhibit a kind of swagger about their expertise. "A lot of people who work here are underemployed for their education levels," says Mr. LaFramboise, the buyer. "Everyone reads, and they are all good with customers." Regular shoppers confide to them: One woman's husband had just left her, another was getting divorced, and they needed books to help explain these events to their children. Workers pride themselves on these close relationships.

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It was the will of the store's employees, she says, that Mr. Gainsburg had to leave. "I couldn't turn people around one by one," she says. "We don't have a traditional management structure, and we don't have traditional employees."

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Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com

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