Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mark Kaufman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mark, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
While living in Nashville, our favorite evening out was to patronize one of many music venues, like the legendary Bluebird Cafe, where singer/songwriters would ply their trade, not only telling stories about the inspiration for a song, but also crafting a song that told a story. It was one of the activities we missed most after relocating to Amelia Island, Florida, so we decided to introduce our new community to the genre by inviting some of the singer/songwriters we had come to know to perform. In 2005, we hosted our very first “Evening of Story & Song” for an appreciative audience of 95 friends and neighbors. By the time we retired the series eleven years later, we had hosted 45 artists and built an email list of close to 1,000.
When the opportunity surfaced in 2017 to launch our business venture, a combined bookstore, bistro, and performance space, we chose the name “Story & Song Bookstore Bistro,” since so many in the community were already familiar with the concerts we hosted. Five years later, we broadened the scope of our business by forming a nonprofit foundation to serve as the umbrella organization for all the events we hosted, and called the new nonprofit “Story & Song Center for Arts & Culture.”
Mark, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
From the time my wife was 16 years old, she had always wanted to own and operate her own bookstore. We met in 1992, about six months after she had launched a training and consulting business, working with bookstores around the country. Though it meant learning a new industry, I was able to apply prior work experience in marketing communications, human resources, and organization development.
The stars finally aligned in 2017: all the pieces fell into place to allow us to feel confident that we could successfully launch a new bookstore/bistro. Our goal was to create an environment where everyone would feel welcome, seen and heard. It’s most rewarding to be able to bring comfort to our customers by suggesting the right book at the right time.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
After six years in business, we now have more than 9,000 customers who agreed to join our “Circle of Readers” loyalty program, where they get a $10 reward after buying $200 worth of merchandise. Every week, we use an email marketing company to send a newsletter that features events, new book releases, bistro news, and more. We also produce 3,000 copies of an 8-page print newsletter every other month, randomly distributed throughout the community.
Our best customers and donors to the nonprofit also get invitations to special events and first dibs on purchasing tickets before the general public.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I had traveled to Nashville from the San Francisco Bay Area to reunite with a former business colleague who offered a workshop about applying spiritual principles to the business world. That’s where I sat next to Donna Paz, who offered to act as a tour guide after the workshop ended. As we shared stories — both of us had near-death experiences — it became clear that we had similar values, hopes and dreams.
After I returned to the Bay Area, our relationship evolved through the exchange of hand-written letters. Then, when my landlord asked me to give up my rental for a family member, I took it as a sign that it was time to make a change. I packed my belongings, in search of a new place to live, with my first stop being Nashville. The reunion with Donna went swimmingly, and I never left.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://StoryandSongArts.org
- Facebook: StoryandSongBookstore
