Chicago’s bookselling business lost a leader late last month when Pat Peterson resigned as general manager of Barbara’s Bookstores and moved to Normal to become associate director of the Dalkey Archive Press, a small but well-respected publisher of serious fiction. Though Peterson will continue to serve in an advisory capacity on the Barbara’s board of directors, now that she’s no longer a Barbara’s employee, her stake in the company will revert to owner Don Barliant and his wife, Janet Bailey, who live in Santa Fe. Peterson’s former responsibilities will be divvied up among three people. Later this month, Barbara Stuark, who’s previously handled retail operations at the Field Museum and Brookfield Zoo, will become general manager of all the Barbara’s stores. Janet Bailey and Barbara’s operations manager Isabella Reitzel will split up Peterson’s book-buying responsibilities.
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To some, Peterson’s departure is a sign that the worst may not be over in the battle between the chain stores, such as Crown, Barnes & Noble, and Borders, and the independents, which were once the dominant force in Chicago bookselling. “Pat’s departure raises a lot of questions,” says Unabridged Bookstore owner Ed Devereux. Devereux, who’s cut his staff from ten to seven, estimates he’s lost a couple hundred thousand dollars in sales to the chains over the past couple of years. “All that has been happening has made me a better businessperson, but perhaps Pat saw the handwriting on the wall.” Peterson says a desire to change her lifestyle prompted her to move downstate, not a concern that Barbara’s was threatened. “I would be deeply offended if anyone thought I was run out of town,” says Peterson, adding, “I think there are a lot of opportunities for good independent bookstores in Chicago.”
One of Peterson’s last major tasks at Barbara’s was opening the new Barbara’s Bookstore at Navy Pier, a location not likely to be invaded anytime soon by a superstore. In the past couple of years she and Barliant also opened two small bookstores, called Barbara’s Bestsellers, in high-traffic commuter railroad stations. The stores–one here in Chicago at Northwestern Station, the other at South Station in Boston–sell only those books that have proved popular at Barbara’s larger stores, which ensures that inventory turns over quickly. Barliant, who plans to open more of these stores in other markets, argues that their profits will help Barbara’s survive until the inevitable shakeout makes the remaining independents more competitive.
