The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Fighting the Big Guys: Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company manager Phil Cullen says his business has dropped off by about 20 percent since Starbucks opened on the Avenue, and he woos customers with quality beans, coffee and service--and weekend live music.

Independents stay nimble to compete with the big chains

They offer customers service, quality and a personal touch

By Christine M. Lias

With the expected arrival of Silicon Valley's fourth Barnes & Noble this fall, independent booksellers like Willow Glen Books owner Cathy Adkins are coming up with creative solutions to combat the bigger fish in the sea.

Adkins, for example, takes pride in her bookstore's speedy special-order service for rare books. Compared to the average two-week time period for a chain, Willow Glen Books on Lincoln Avenue can get most books within a week's time, she noted.

"If I can possibly get ahold of a book for a customer, I will get that book," said Adkins, pointing out that her store also offers the personal touch of holding regular book club meetings there.

A Barnes & Noble spokesperson said the newest store would open in November, and an employee at the Campbell store said it would be on Almaden Expressway near Oakridge Mall.

Chain stores have multiplied recently, causing independent businesses to scramble to keep customers and attract new ones.

In Willow Glen, chains have been popping up along Lincoln Avenue for years. Recently Jamba Juice, Peet's and Noah's Bagels joined the ranks of Le Boulanger, Burger King and Manhattan Bagels. And, of course, there's Starbucks.

Phil Cullen, manager of the independent Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company, says that business has dropped off about 20 percent since Starbucks Coffee, perhaps the most controversial chain, opened a store across the way on the Avenue two years ago.

To attract customers, the roasting company added live music on weekends. The coffeehouse is focusing on the quality of its coffee beans and customer service, Cullen said.

Richard Morgan, former owner of Willow Glen Bagels, an independent Avenue store that buys raw product from the House of Bagels chain, sold the store in November 1996, citing lagging business and the concern that two chains--Noah's and Manhattan Bagels--would soon come to the Avenue.

Owner Socheat Chum talked to The Resident a month after Manhattan Bagels opened in 1997 and said that business was suffering because of the new chain. Chum could not be reached for further comment.

Demetri Rizos, manager of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association, says chain stores have a definite advantage over independents, especially in consistency of product.

"If I walk into a Starbucks, for example, and order a latté, I know that I'll get the same thing each time," Rizos said. "They also put a lot of time and money into training their employees in customer service. If an independent store wants to survive, they need to have consistency in product and exceptional customer service."

Rizos cites a personal example: "My father has run a restaurant in the area for 21 years [Bill's Cafe on Willow Street] and has consistently maintained a high level of service, especially personal service."

Reading signs of change

Chain bookstores have outnumbered independents since 1994, according to the American Booksellers Association. Wall Street analysts expect the number of "supermarket bookstores" to soar from 700 to 2,000 nationally in the next 10 years, according to a recent San Francisco Chronicle article.

"Barnes & Noble has been a threat since it opened," Adkins said. "Nationally, they've had an impact. We read about the decline of independent bookstores in cities and towns. There are customers that used to come here that don't come here anymore," she said.

Adkins opened Willow Glen Books in 1992 and in fiscal year 1994-1995 experienced zero growth, which she attributes to the expansion of chains in the area. She said last year had "reasonable enough growth" to enable her to stay in business--for now.

"When [independents] are able to survive, it's usually because they've got a very solid customer base, people who realize that they need their bookstore," she said.

"Our revenue sources are changing," she said. "One customer wanted me to be a bookseller at a conference, and I have schoolteachers who order here. Their 64 books or so, that's revenue we wouldn't have had. I had another customer who wanted me to do authors' events at her church."

Like many other independent bookstores, Willow Glen Books has joined the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) and the American Booksellers Association (ABA).

"The NCIBA helps in promotion, public relations and more publicity than any one store can attain," Adkins said.

These groups have been taking action against what they see as chain bookstores getting an unfair share of the market. Recently, the NCIBA lodged a public complaint against the alliance of The New York Times Bestsellers List and Barnes & Noble on the Internet. Adkins chooses to use the Bay Area Bestsellers List in her store instead, as do many independent booksellers.

And the ABA has filed a court case in San Francisco's U.S. District Court against Borders and Barnes & Noble for possible violation of federal and state laws that regulate pricing and prohibit unfair trade practices.

The Starbucks experience

Carole Whitman, manager of the Willow Glen Starbucks store, says she understands the small-business person's woes.

"I started out working for a small family business. We had an espresso maker in the shop, and when Starbucks came four miles away, we felt it affected our business," she said. "I told myself that I would never work for Starbucks. ... But looking into the company, I found that Starbucks shares a lot of the same ethics that I grew up with in a small business, like the customer comes first."

The San Jose phone book lists 20 Starbucks locations in the South Bay, but don't try to find Matthew Roth at any of them. He's been a faithful Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company devotee for the past year.

Near his table, on the counter, sits the roasting company's tip jar and a handwritten sign reading "Support the Anti-Starbucks Coalition."

"Starbucks coffee sucks ever since it went national," Roth said. "Their ambiance stinks." Roth, a Willow Glen resident, used to bring Starbucks coffee back from business trips to Seattle years ago. He once was a "steadfast Starbucks fan" before the coffee chain chose to expand in the late '80s and early '90s.

The roasting company opened almost eight years ago. Barista (espresso maker) Ben Danielson, who has worked at the cafe for a year and a half, said business has been affected by "our competitor against the street."

But he added, "We're getting more and more people come in that can respect a small business and are going against the more familiar names."

Whitman says that Starbucks does not strive to put others out of business. "Our intention is never to come into an area and take over. We want to come in and become part of the community," she said.

She cites several examples of Starbucks' community efforts: working with the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association, donating 20 gallons of coffee to the Farmers' Market and giving day-old pastries to local shelters.

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