Seeing your favorite branch close down almost felt like having to say goodbye to a best friend, sans any closure. Daez understood how much their physical presence meant to patrons, especially to those “who have already established a close connection with their favorite branches and customer service staff.” We assure all the readers in the Philippines thatFullyBookedis not going anywhere. As long as our stores remain profitable, we will keep them open. We are very committed to getting books into the hands of readers, no matter their age, location, or genre preference,” Daez said. The other two stores – Century City and Vertis North – closed down in January due to the end of their lease contracts as well. Due to the performance of the store, the lease offer, and the current pandemic situation, we didn’t think it was worth it to keep these stores open,” Daez added. Challenges, promises, and everything in between With over a hundred thousand titles across multiple genres, Fully Booked has captured the loyalty of book lovers of all ages. From Graphic Novels to books on Cookery, Architecture and Design, anyone who walks in a Fully Booked bookstore with an open mind and a thirst for a good read will ultimately find a story to fall in love with. The pandemic – with shutdowns and disruptions in manufacturing and logistics – exacerbated this problem. It’s quite tough to make sure that abookwill be available on our shelves on release date,” Daez said.

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What can Fully Booked’s avid bookworms expect from the bookstore’s next chapter? An acceleration of their e-commerce growth, Daez said, and less of a dependence on their physical stores for future growth.

As a business owner, you need to make a commitment to what is the minimal marketing activity you’ll do no matter how busy you are. As much as more government support would help, Daez also said that they would rather focus on areas they can control. “The demand for physical books is high, it even increased during the pandemic, and meeting that demand is where we would like to focus on,” he said. But, in a way, it was heartbreak for a bigger cause – it was no longer sustainable and practical for the whole business to keep all branches open, as much as they wanted to. The Torre Lorenzo branch, for example, was located along Taft Avenue and across De La Salle University, and was hugely “dependent on the patronage of the student population.”

Fully Booked | Window Door Sign - printed vinyl, single Sorry Fully Booked | Window Door Sign - printed vinyl, single

All of the examples aren’t necessarily related to marketing your business, but any time saved from using technology across any part of your business will free time that you can then use to market your business.

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The worst part was that most patrons couldn’t physically say goodbye – by the time Fully Booked announced the closures on January 13, Fully Booked’s branch in Torre Lorenzo, Taft Avenue already closed the day before, the Century City Mall branch was closing shop on that day, and the Ayala Vertis North branch only had a few weeks left. Their S’Maison branch was also temporarily closed until further notice.