Virginia Woolf famously insisted that if they wanted to write fiction, women needed “money and a room of one’s own.” But if they want to read fiction, it may well be that women (and men as well) need a few more items. Into that gap has stepped Indigo, a Canadian retailer that looks like a bookstore but calls itself a cultural department store.
For booklovers, an Indigo store sets the perfect stage. In addition to curated book selections, highlighting popular and compelling works of fiction and nonfiction, it provides reading socks, scented candles, cashmere throws, and aromatic oil diffusers. The idea is that people can go to Indigo to find everything they need to create a cozy reading room or corner. Yet even as it provides these parallel products to make reading more enjoyable, approximately half of all of Indigo’s sales are of books, signaling its continued commitment to books as its primary product market.
Beyond those accessories, it applies curation efforts to design attractive displays of products linked to the books it recommends. For example, next to a collection of cookbooks, the stores might stock a high end knife set, herb kits, table linens, and acacia salad bowls. Plush toys and infant blankets are stocked on shelves near the children’s books. The self-help section hosts a treasure trove of improvement tools, from crystal facial rollers to organic soaps to water bottles that promise to help people to stay healthy and hydrated.
The selection process is evident from the moment shoppers enter the store, where they encounter “Heather’s Picks” of books, chosen by the company’s CEO Heather Reisman. Her influence extends beyond these recommendations though, such that she personally hosts conversations in stores with famous authors like Bill Clinton, Nora Ephron, and Malcolm Gladwell. She also had a hand in the store designs, which tend toward a cozy and generally feminine vibe, reflecting a market in which approximately 60 percent of book buyers are women.
Such cross-merchandising and experience-centric approaches appear to be a viable solution in the dynamic bookseller market. The big box names like Barnes & Noble and Borders have shrunk or closed completely. The Canadian equivalent, called Chapters, even underwent a merger with Indigo a few years ago. Having established its presence in Canada, Indigo has started a U.S. expansion, though notably, independent booksellers in the United States are enjoying a resurgence that suggests some challenges to its growth.
Of course, the biggest name in book selling is Amazon, and Reisman is clear in how its presence defines Indigo’s strategy. By curating selections, Indigo explicitly does not try to provide everything to everyone, because in her words, “Someone’s already doing that.” That is, shoppers are not visiting an Indigo store because they think it will carry every book they could possibly consider. Instead, they go there to find a comfortable space where knowledgeable readers offer them recommendations and support their desire to carve out space to engage in the enjoyable pursuit of reading.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is Indigo’s merchandising strategy?
2. Do you believe Indigo will be successful in the United States? Why or why not?

Source: Alexandra Alter, The New York Times, May 1, 2019