All She Wrote Books, Somerville’s queer, woman-owned bookstore, is launching a membership program called Friends of Ruby that will provide perks to members with the goal of increasing community.
For $45 a year, members will get 10 percent off all purchases, 20 percent off during an annual member sale and discounts on renting out the bookstore for private events, plus the ability to sign up for private in-store or online shopping with All She Wrote Books’ owner Christina Pascucci-Ciampa and the opportunity to share a “staff pick” during their birthday month. Members will also get a Friends of Ruby pin by Crafty Queer Studio and can sign up early for events. Other ideas are being considered.
The name comes from the phrase “friends of Dorothy,” which has historically been used by LGBTQIA+ people to identify each other, and the shop’s unofficial corgi mascot, Ruby – the store’s “chief barking officer,” Pascucci-Ciampa said.
“We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve had so many amazing customers over the years that are still with us today, including people who don’t even necessarily live in the area anymore but remain loyal to us, and I thought this would be a cool way to continuously build our community,” Pascucci-Ciampa said. “For only a few dollars a month, you can connect with us even further and on a deeper level.”
Other bookstores in Cambridge and Somerville haven’t gone as far in organizing their perks. While the Harvard Coop has a $1 annual membership with members-only sale events and 10 percent discounts on in-store purchases, it’s limited to the Harvard and MIT communities; Harvard Book Store and Porter Square Books have only free frequent-buyer programs, and the latter’s program is limited to giving a $7.50 in-store coupon for every $150 spent. The Harvard Book Store’s is more elaborate, with 20-percent-off deals on bestsellers, featured titles and at the twice-annual frequent-buyer sales as well as a $5 in-store coupon for every $100 spent.
Events have become an all-but standard feature at independent bookstores. All She Wrote Books has held Scholastic-style book fairs for kids and adults, book clubs and children’s story hours; Ciampa-Pascucci said the Friends of Ruby program was an addition based on feedback from customers who wanted some kind of loyalty program – but instead of a purely transactional one, Friends of Ruby was designed to reward customers for more than just purchases.
“If you support and love a local business like ours, we want to show you that same love back, and so it was really important for me to choose perks that would honor that,” Pascucci-Ciampa said.
Capitalizing on a good year
Pascucci-Ciampa said the largest challenge of being an independent bookseller is the constant fight against Amazon and big-box stores.
“Many businesses have experienced some serious ebbs and flows this year, and we’re no different,” she said.
But overall, she said, this past year has been positive. After rising rent prices pushed All She Wrote Books out of the Assembly Row storefront it had inhabited for three years, a fundraising campaign brought in more than $60,000 over two months and enabled Pascucci-Ciampa to open a new store in East Somerville in November. In the past year, she has settled into the new space, made connections in the neighborhood and hosted some of the bookstore’s most successful events to date.
The loyalty program is a way “of saying thank you, and keeping our community connected to us and to each other,” Pascucci-Ciampa said.
Personal shopping perk
The idea of one-on-one shopping with Pascucci-Ciampa was inspired by All She Wrote Books’ early days during the height of the pandemic. “At the time, because of Covid, we opened the store to customers by appointment only, both to keep them safe and to offer a curated, fun experience during a lonely, tough time,” Pascucci-Ciampa said.
Pascucci-Ciampa brought back a form of this personal shopping during December in advance of holiday shopping (dates for this year’s “Booksmas” will be announced soon), but now it will be on offer year-round for members.
“We’ve heard from people that they just really enjoyed that experience of being able to connect with someone one-on-one, for recommendations and ideas and just to talk about books,” Pascucci-Ciampa said.
Members can email the store with at least two weeks’ notice to find a time to shop virtually or in person.
Pinning down merch
The Friends of Ruby pin evolved from a sticker of Ruby with a Pride flag that studio owner Alex Mancini made for Pride 2023. “People just went crazy for it,” Pascucci-Ciampa said. (A full selection of stickers of the famous Ruby is another perk on the way, Pascucci-Ciampa said.)
Friends of Ruby members will get exclusive access starting next year to early bird tickets for book clubs and large events that historically have sold out, Pascucci-Ciampa said.
The membership program can be joined online, and can be gifted. All She Wrote Books is able to ship purchases domestically and internationally, so the membership is open to all.
“This is not just for our community here in Boston; we also want to support people who may be living in other areas where there might not be as much independence or access to queer books,” Pascucci-Ciampa said. “No matter where you live or how you will shop with us, we would love you to become a member.”
As the only intersectional, feminist, queer bookstore in the Boston area, Pascucci-Ciampa prides All She Wrote Books as being a place for people looking for inclusive spaces.
“We want people to know that the door is always open, and that that door is always welcoming to you if and when you are seeking that community,” Pascucci-Ciampa said. “I think of our bookstore as a beacon of light; the light is always on and the light is always there.”
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I worked for a bookstore in Harvard Sq. At that time, “private shopping” was known as “customer service” and was an expected component of the retail bookstore experience. Those were the days! Now we have a two-tier system, in which customers who can pay for it get better service, e.g., Amazon Prime.
The book business is one of the hardest, and this proprieter is clearly not making enough money to survive. Perhaps she should consider a different business model — nonprofit, co-op, or members-only.