Sven and Ole books is only a year and half old. They offer new and used books, retail items, and coffee mugs. The owner Sven was able to answer some questions on his up and coming business.
Sven and Ole books offers a good selection of books which is rather eclectic, and they will special order books for their customers. Sven and Ole books also has a gorgeous space with high ceilings, and beautiful brick walls. Sven also offers free entrance into his book savers club which will save the customer a lot of money. During his interview Sven often compared his store to Barnes and Noble. Sven said, "I have a lower overhead then Barnes and Noble, but I can't buy at the same prices that they buy and I have thinner margins." Sven feels that his store fills a void in the market. Besides Mankato there is no other town in the area that has a new book store.
Sven has been learning as he goes, but he has already adapted a philosophy, "I need to earn each sale. Each time a customer enters the store I need to sell my store to the customer even they are a returning customer."
In the last year Sven has achieved good growth despite the recession. He sales are double what they were last year in November. In the last year he has increased his inventory from 4500 books to 12000.
Sven had this to say about Wal-Mart, "People will shop at Wal-Mart no matter what. I don't mind having them here because it brings people in. As long as we continue to get people to come to New Ulm, I'm happy."
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