The Library Store
Innovative Bookstore Raises The Bar With Retail Pro
"If we had 20 SKUs, Square would have been fine. We have over 100 SKUs on the mobile store and 5,000 SKUs in store. The app is user friendly, and our customers love to 'sign' their sales slips using their fingers"
- Christine Romero, Director of Retail Operations, The Library Foundation of L.A.
Background
A project of The Library Foundation of Los
Angeles, The Library Store is one of LA’s most
creative gift shops, bringing one-of-a-kind
book paraphenalia to reading enthusiasts.
The Library Store fights to advance literacy
by funneling its profits toward projects not
funded by the city of Los Angeles.
Headquarters:
Los Angeles, California
Website:
Product:
Retail Pro 9
Business Partner:
Customer Since:
2002
Thinking Ahead
What tattoo parlors are for biker clubs, The Library Store is for book enthusiasts.
Filled with eclectic and clever book-inspired gifts and accessories,
it has become a haven for hardcore bookworms looking to authentically
express themselves. Interestingly, people often associate reading with
intelligence. Perhaps not surprisingly, The Library Store showed great
foresight in anticipating the convergence of demand and trend, opening
a mobile truck and mobile online store to complement their brick-andmortar
store. Though managed smoothly for years using Retail Pro®, The
Library Store decided to fully review their options before committing a
mobile POS solution.
A True Mobile POS Solution
For a short time, the mobile truck was managed by hand, as The Library
Store reviewed the full range of POS solutions on the market. They found
that popular mobile POS solutions offered at tantalizing low costs did not
offer the full inventory control they had become accustomed to while
using Retail Pro. This was exacerbated by the future need to integrate
the home store, mobile truck and online store inventories. “We are small,
but we do a lot of business and need to know our cost of goods, be able
to spread the freight, do a discount, averages, etc. If we were using just a
basic Point of Sale to do transactions we wouldn’t have had the accuracy
that we get with Retail Pro,” explains Christine Romero, who oversees
operations at The Library Store.
Reading Into The Future
![Colorful clothing assorted on well-lit racks and hangars]()
Like a great book, The Library Store may be small, but its impact on its
community has been profound. The Library Store fights to advance
literacy by funneling its profits toward projects not funded by the city of
Los Angeles. Funding for several local reading and literacy programs are
tied to The Library Store’s success, as profits are channeled directly into
these initiatives. LA Weekly awarded The Library Store the honor of LA’s
Best Downtown Bookstore in 2010 & 2011 and LA’s Best Gift Shop in 2012.
With Retail Pro, The Library Store is continuing to pioneer and inspire
communities in LA and beyond.
Like a great book, The Library Store may be small, but its impact on its
community has been profound. The Library Store fights to advance
literacy by funneling its profits toward projects not funded by the city of
Los Angeles. Funding for several local reading and literacy programs are
tied to The Library Store’s success, as profits are channeled directly into
these initiatives. LA Weekly awarded The Library Store the honor of LA’s
Best Downtown Bookstore in 2010 & 2011 and LA’s Best Gift Shop in 2012.
With Retail Pro, The Library Store is continuing to pioneer and inspire
communities in LA and beyond.
