In the Press: "The Keys to Selling Books Locally: Community and Conversation" The Hudson Independent

The Keys to Selling Books Locally: Community and Conversation

By By W.B. King, The Hudson Independent, December 13, 2022

Sara Davidson’s Picture Book tucked away in Dobbs Ferry’s Palisades Building (photo by Barrett Seaman)

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A Pan­demic Baby

Pic­ture Book, lo­cated in the lobby of Hud­co’s co-work­space in Dobbs Fer­ry’s Pal­isades Build­ing, can’t rely on street traf­fic for busi­ness, but enough peo­ple from the build­ing and be­yond are drawn to its com­bi­na­tion of chil­dren’s books and adult il­lus­trated art and cook­books have made it a go­ing en­ter­prise. This “pan­demic baby,” as pro­pri­etor Sara David­son Johns calls her “store,” was ini­tially in­tended as an in­terim lo­ca­tion on the way to a bricks-and-mor­tar Main Street venue when she opened in Oc­to­ber 2020. But busi­ness has im­proved each year since—enough so that she has opened a sec­ond shop in a sim­i­lar co-work­ing space in Cross River in north­ern Westch­ester.

“We had a re­ally big week­end with the Hol­i­day Trol­ley” bring­ing shop­pers down to the re­mote lo­ca­tion, she says. “I was talk­ing all day long,” she con­fesses in a barely au­di­ble voice a few days later. While il­lus­trated vol­umes are the core of her brand, David­son also of­fers con­tem­po­rary fic­tion and sells a fair amount on her web site, www.pic­ture­bookny.com.

Like other in­die start-ups, David­son sees her store as an al­ter­na­tive to Ama­zon and the big chains. “Peo­ple want a tac­tile ex­pe­ri­ence—and some­one to talk to.”