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“We have been looking for a different venue ever since we bought the Show,” said
Larry May who along with his wife Valerie, owns the GABBS show. The original
show, The Christmas Book Show, held in Nashville, TN, was owned by Larry Austin,
who sold it to the Mays a few years ago. “Larry Austin had a vision for a summer
bargain book show that would be early enough to attract buyers who were looking
for 4th quarter product,” explained May. “When we bought the show, we moved it
to Atlanta and renamed it GABBS (the Great American Bargain Book Show), where we
had already established an attendee base through The Spring Book Show. Now the
show has stabilized, and I think the timing was right for a move,” continued
May. Boston is the right city, too. We looked at a lot of different cities and
several were suitable… but, for a number of reasons, Boston just made the most
sense. First, the Northeast region is full of independent bookstores and they
are geographically concentrated in a much smaller area than those in the
Southeast. Secondly, because of Boston’s approximation to New York City, the
show will be easily accessible to larger buyers and internationals.
The Boston move has met with very positive responses:
"Many of the association trade shows have become so expensive that it is
difficult to determine their worth to your company --- not so with bargain book
shows. These are 'order writing' shows with reasonable costs that give you the
opportunity to meet old customers and pick up some new ones. The bottom line is
that you sell a lot books! This will be our first opportunity to showcase our
product in the Northeast -- I'm excited about the move," Steve Slack, SMCo.
“This is such an exciting and positive development- Boston is beautiful in the
summertime,” said Jeff Press, President of World Publications Group. “There is
so much literary history in Boston and this is a fantastic opportunity to see
many bookstores and other New England accounts who otherwise would not be able
to attend GABBS. “
"I think it was good to move this show to a different region of the country. We
have never had a bargain book show in the Northeast Region and I think this
year, more than ever, a show geared toward 4th quarter sales is more important
than ever. Bookstores should definitely take advantage of this," said Larry
Austin, owner of East Tennessee Trade Group and original owner of the book show.
"Larry May’s shows are always terrific and having it is Boston this year will a
pleasant change of venue,” Wren Franklin, Thomas Nelson, National Sales Manager,
Remainder Sales. |