IA/IL QUAD-CITIES - After 30 years at the same location, The Book Rack in Bettendorf, Iowa, is moving to a new location on Elmore Avenue in Davenport, effective Sept. 24.
According to bookstore owner Bob Applegate, the decision to move the store's Iowa location after three decades was a matter of planning for the future.
"We had two locations - a new one in Moline and the older one in Bettendorf's Duck Creek Plaza," he said. "The larger, more visible facility in Moline quickly surpassed the Duck Creek site in sales, even though it's only been in Moline for two years. The Bettendorf store, though successful, was limited by its size and location."
The Moline store is located in Rock River Plaza at 3937 41st Ave. Dr., Moline, Illinois. The new Davenport store can be found at 4764 Elmore Ave., across the roadway from Best Buy.
Bob Applegate and his wife, Claudia, bought The Book Rack's Quad-City franchise four years ago after retiring from the Rock Island Arsenal, satisfying their entrepreneurial spirit at an age when others are thinking about leaving the 9-to-5 workday.
"Something Had to Be Done"
According to Applegate, the biggest problem with the Duck Creek Plaza location was that it was out of the public's line of vision. "It's across a parking lot from Home Depot, and really, you could only see it from Home Depot," he said. "It never benefited from its proximity to Schnuck's, even though that high-traffic supermarket was right around the corner."
Plus, the Bettendorf location was just too small. "It needed to hold a lot more inventory to compare to the Moline location," Applegate said. "Something had to be done."
After considering various sectors of the Quad-Cities for a new location, Applegate decided to move the Duck Creek Plaza store to Elmore Avenue. "The new location has much better visibility and ample storefront parking," he said.
How The Book Rack Works
According to Applegate, The Book Rack gives customers store credit on the books they bring in, for 25 percent of the cover value of paperbacks. They accept mass-market and trade paperbacks, as well as selected hardcovers. "We welcome the opportunity to look at any book," he said. They may decline a book if they have too many copies or if the book is in bad shape.
The Book Rack sells paperback books priced at half the cover price. They accept store credit up to 50 percent off the sale price of used paperbacks that the customer buys. They can special-order almost any book for a discount.
"Our customer service includes a Book Search feature," Applegate said. "If you're looking for a favorite book or author, we'll let you know when the item comes in. Our system will also tell you if you've bought a particular book before, in case you're a voracious reader and have forgotten the titles of what you've read before."
A Widespread Clientele
According to Applegate, customers visit The Book Rack's locations from as far away as Clinton, Fulton, Aledo, Dubuque, Muscatine, Geneseo and beyond.
"We have between 55,000 and 60,000 books in stock in Moline," Applegate said. "The Duck Creek location could only hold 20,000 titles. The Davenport store will start out with 35,000 titles and grow from there." He noted that his stores do not suffer from any clutter. "It's all as neatly filed as any library," he said, "and clean, with no dust." Also, The Book Rack has about 1,800 books listed on Amazon.com.
"Our tagline is, 'It just makes sense to get your books at The Book Rack.'" Applegate said. "That applies whether you're buying from us at our locations or online. We encourage folks to visit the stores regularly, since the inventory changes and you never know what great books you'll find once you start browsing."
