We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elizabeth Bosscher. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elizabeth below.

Alright, Elizabeth thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

When we talk about trends in book buying they are so often reflective of people’s emotions and perspective on the broader world. This year we are seeing a trend towards seeking comfort, encouragement, and community. For us, this means that readers are looking for books about friendship and relationship building, they are showing up to events more willing and eager to make a connection with fellow readers, and they are seeking out joy in the form of bookstore wandering and shopping. Spaces that have and sell books have long been a sort of refuge where people feel safe and find community and we are just so thankful to be able to provide that for our communities.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello! My name is Elizabeth Bosscher and I am the Marketing Manager at Schuler Books. Schuler Books is an independent bookstore with 4 locations in Michigan (Grand Rapids, Okemos, Ann Arbor, and West Bloomfield). Schuler Books has been a thriving small business in Michigan since 1982 and we hope to be here for many many more years! We offer books of all genres and varieties as well as toys, gift items, and stationary. Two of our locations also have a full service café.

I started my bookselling journey 3 years ago as the Events Coordinator. I didn’t know that this kind of role even existed before I applied for it, but it has truly been a dream! As the event coordinator I coordinated nearly 200 events a year across our 4 locations. Meeting and working with authors gave me a whole new appreciation for the books I was reading. Now, the books I truly love, also often come with stories about how lovely and kind the author was!

One that stands out is the romance author Katherine Center. I got to host her in 2023 and while I had liked her book, I didn’t really love it until I heard her speak passionately about how reading romance can help us all find more joy in our lives and explore our world in new ways. She herself was such a joyful person who writes joyful stories and I left that event feeling incredibly inspired!

This past year I was promoted to Marketing Manager of our company and I entered a new era of bookselling! Now, I get to lead a team that supports the rest of the company though the serious and the silly of communicating messages and social media content.

When we are crafting message for our customers we hope to exemplify that while not every book is for every reader, we believe there is a book out there for every one and you just have to find the right one! The other joy is that once you find your reading groove, you can also discover a whole community of people that also love what you love! In a time when finding connection and community seems so important and also hard, we hope to be one place that makes it easier.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I think its so important to make your team feel valued. In my team, I am the person who often makes an ultimate choice, but I want my team members to be part of the process and feel heard and understood throughout. I don’t go in thinking that I’m the smartest person in the room with all the right answers because we all come with our own perspectives and its very possible that one of my team members sees it in a way I never would have thought of. I love to celebrate wins and show appreciation often. I also try to ensure that when things don’t go well we talk about them openly with a problem solving mindset and not a blame mindset.

I think clear and open communication is also key in trust building within a team. If the people you are working with don’t know the expectations, you can’t be surprised when they aren’t met. Asking lots of questions when things seem unclear and approaching misunderstandings with curiosity instead of insistence the person should just follow directions better can help you create systems that promote trust and efficiency and save you lots of heartache in the long run.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Our people are really our magic. We know that there are a lot of places to buy books, but when you shop in a Schuler Books we want you to feel like a friend! Our staff are always ready to share a book recommendation or help you find that book you can only kind of remember and don’t know the name of but “the cover was blue”! We also hold ourselves to a high standard and strive to do everything with excellence! And when things go wrong, we do our best to fix them and are not afraid to admit when we were wrong.

It’s this human element and our commitment to creating kind and safe spaces that I think promotes the brand loyalty among our customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.schulerbooks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schulerbooks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/schulerbooks
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@schulerbooks1982
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@schulerbooks