D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
June 2008
Getting a Read
Now with two Las Cruces locations, COAS Books has grown into one of the Southwest's largest used-book retailers. Plus: Bowling for growth, eco-design options, Tucson Realtor comes to Cruces, 24-hour workouts and more business news.
"It's a busy morning. I've got 2,000 dictionaries going out the door right now, one to every third grader in town," says Mike Beckett. His Las Cruces business, COAS Books, in partnership with the Rotary Club, has put together a big donation to the local schools, and everything — including TV coverage and a fancy luncheon with town dignitaries — is hitting today, in just an hour or so.
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COAS Books owner Mike Beckett behind
the counter. (Photo by Donna Clayton Lawder) |
In blue jeans, his sleeves rolled up and rushing around to attend to last-minute details, Beckett never loses the smile from his face. He delegates details to his staff, asking one employee to return a phone call for him, another to help a customer find the mystery section.
Straightening books on a nearby shelf as he speaks, Beckett says he is pleased that a good number of the dictionaries he's donating are bilingual Spanish-English books, reflective of the children and households in the community. He describes third grade as a particularly important point in a young person's development and education.
"It's when kids switch from 'learning to read' to 'reading to learn,'" he explains. "They've done studies on people in prison, and third grade seems to be a turning point. There are a lot of people who are incarcerated who didn't make it through the third grade." He pauses to let this statistic register, nodding, acknowledging a customer's expression.
"I know. Shocking, isn't it? It just shows that this is a foundational time. So that's why we're targeting the third graders, to give them the tools and to keep them learning."
Making books accessible — not just to third graders but to the larger reading public — is one of the things Beckett loves about his business.
"We definitely make reading affordable. And you know how it is with people who love books," he says, gesturing toward a customer at the counter, purchasing a teetering stack of hardcovers and paperbacks. "They generally like a lot of books, so buying used is a great way to go."
Founded by archeologist Patrick H. Beckett, COAS started out as an archeological publishing business. "COAS" is a Nahatual term that translates as "digging sticks" or a fire-hardened digging tool used by Indians for planting corn. After years of collecting and trading books on archeology, Mike Beckett explains, his father realized he liked the book business, and COAS: My Bookstore became an official "side business" for the family in 1984.
The store grew quickly. It's now one of the largest retailers of rare and used books in the Southwest, with the original downtown mall location and another store that opened in April of 2005 on South Solano. Mike Beckett started working for his father in 1988 and bought the business from him in January 2007.
In addition to selling used books, COAS offers a considerable selection of new Southwest and local history books. "People who live here, who move here, and tourists, too, want to know about people like the Fountains, the local outlaws and desperadoes, so I think it's important to carry those kinds of books. It's an area of special interest and we've got a pretty good selection. People ask for that stuff," Mike Beckett says.
He describes his customer base as a mix of visitors and locals, but allows that the regular "book addicts" — folks like that customer buying a stack this morning — are his bread and butter, many of them having "COAS Credit" accounts.
The COAS credit system gives customers a credit for books they bring in that the business deems resale-able. "Based on the type of book and its condition, we give them a credit for future purchases," Beckett explains. "The price we give them is based on a percentage of what we think we'll sell the book for."
He says COAS does a fairly good business in other media, too — buying, selling and trading DVDs, music CDs, VHS tapes and even audio books.
Beckett has nearly three-dozen employees, from college students to some older than himself, a few of them even longer tenured at COAS than his own 20 years.
"It's a great job, a fun job," he says. "Other than the ones who go off to school somewhere else, or those who move out of the area, they just stay and stay. And sometimes they do go to school somewhere else, and then they come back and work here again."
Unlike corporate bookstore chains, which give prospective employees a book-knowledge test before hiring, Beckett says he just looks for good people with a knack for dealing with the public.
To enhance his customers' book perusing and buying experience, in January Beckett brought in independent contractors Chris and Amanda Meenach to operate Ocotillo Coffeehouse at the downtown location.
"They do a bang-up job, and people just love their coffee," Beckett says. "A lot of folks grab a stack of books and go through them a bit to decide which ones to buy while they enjoy some coffee and a treat. It's a good mix."
Beckett says those regular book addicts — folks who trade in their old books and leave with more than they came in with — are what keeps a funky place like COAS thriving in today's tough book retail market, with the likes of superstores and Amazon.com
"I like to say that life's too short to read a book you don't like," Beckett adds with a laugh. "If you read the first chapter or two and you decide you just don't like it, put that book down and go find something you do like. Hey, if you bought it used, you didn't pay a lot for it anyway, so just let it go!
"Bring it on in here for credit and find something you do like. Look around," he urges, gesturing with his arms down the long aisles and piles of books — estimated at some 400,000. "You're sure to find something here!"
COAS Books, 317 N. Main St.reet, Las Cruces, 524-8471, and
1101
S. Solano Drive,
647-4472. www.coasbooks.com
New In Town
The new Gila Eco-Design Center offers homeowners and designers "green" options for their interior designing and building projects. The business, at 1306 Hudson St. in Silver City, sells eco-friendly custom cabinets, paints, fabrics and more. It's owned by Todd and Dorothy Cocca, who moved here in April. She is an interior designer who's worked in Los Angeles and New York City, and specializes in kitchens and baths. She also offers consulting services on design and products. "I was trained in Portland, Ore., the 'greenest city,' and I love helping people make good decisions on what to use in their homes," she says. "We sell no- and low-VOC (Volatile Organic Chemical) paints, including Miller paints, and I work with designer-contractors and homeowner individuals." 388-1844.
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