Tag: 210311

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Toadstool Bookshops named Retailer of the Year

The New Hampshire Retail Association’s New Hampshire Retailer of the Year award recognizes retailers in the state that have achieved excellence in creativity, customer service, commitment to the community and work environment. The 2021 recipient is The Toadstool Bookshops, owned by Holly and Willard Williams, Jeff Osgood and Lowell Morris, with store locations in Nashua, Peterborough and Keene. Willard Williams talked about how the Toadstool managed to stay afloat and continue to serve book lovers throughout the pandemic.

How did the Toadstool handle the first few months of the pandemic?

In late March, we had to close our doors and couldn’t be open for people to come in the store. … A lot of our sales are really based on people coming in and browsing … so we had to try to find other ways to let people know what new books were out there. We started creating different lists, like a Black Lives Matter[-inspired] list and lists of new arrivals. … Our website became really active, and we started getting a lot of orders online, and a lot of phone calls from people who wanted to pick things up curbside. We learned how to pack and ship books quickly. We’ve always had a number of in-store author events but had to stop those, of course, so we started doing them virtually, on Facebook at first, and then we started using Zoom. … It was a lot of hard work in the beginning to figure out how to do online business and virtual events and curbside, but our staff was really good about picking up on everything quickly and working together.

How were things different after you reopened?

In mid-June, we were able to let people come into the store again. We put up plexiglass barriers at the counters and, of course, put out hand sanitizer and started requiring masks for everyone. The store is large enough that we didn’t have an issue with people being able to spread out sufficiently and keep their distance. We set things up a little differently so that there’s better traffic flow. We had to take all of the chairs out of the store because we didn’t really want people sitting or lingering. The whole idea was to get people to come in, get what they want quickly, and then leave. … That was the hardest thing for us, having to tell people, ‘We want to see you; we want you to come in; but unfortunately, you can’t stay; you have to come and go quickly.’ In the good old days, people would come in, meet each other, talk, chat, gossip, but I really can’t encourage that in the store.

How are you doing, business-wise?

We were down probably about 60 percent [in sales] during March, April, May and early June. Once we were able to open again in mid-June, [sales numbers] started to come back, and in the fall they were actually better than [they were in the fall of] the previous year.

How have you taken care of your staff?

We had to cut back on staff in the beginning, unfortunately. We were able to take advantage of the PPP program from the federal government, so in early June we started bringing some [staff] back to help us out in the store. … The biggest challenge for our staff was trying to find a schedule that allowed them to stay home with their kids when they weren’t in school. … We’re pretty much back to the staff that we had before. Now we’re just trying to make sure everybody stays healthy and that our stores are a safe place to work.

How have your customers stepped up?

I know a number of people who used their stimulus checks to buy books and kind of fill up their personal libraries. We sold a lot of gift certificates — 50 percent more than we would have during that time of year — to people who just wanted to make sure that we still had the cash to survive and get through this. We’re really grateful for that. It’s been encouraging to know that people really wanted us to be here when it was all over. There were those who told us they considered us an essential business because being able to access books is so vital to their lives, and that’s been nice to hear.

How did it feel, being named New Hampshire Retailer of the Year?

We’ve been a member of the New Hampshire Retail Association for quite a number of years, but I had never been aware of the award until I heard that a local person had nominated us for it. I thought, ‘Well, that’s nice,’ but I didn’t think we would actually win. There are so many retailers in the state, and I think that anybody who’s still in business after [the pandemic] is deserving of an award. But we’ve been here for 50 years now, so it was nice to get that recognition.

How are things looking now?

It’s pretty close to normal. We still have no chairs and still don’t encourage lingering, but people can come in and browse again. We’re doing our best to make sure people enjoy being able to come into the store and get out and about while also making sure people stay safe and healthy when they come in.

Featured photo: Willard Williams with wife and Toadstool co-owner Holly Williams. Courtesy photo.

News & Notes 21/03/11

Covid-19 updateAs of March 1As of March 1
Total cases statewide75,58875,588
Total current infections statewide2,3632,363
Total deaths statewide1,1701,170
New cases1,923 (Feb. 23 to March 1)1,923 (Feb. 23 to March 1)
Current infections: Hillsborough County692692
Current infections: Merrimack County163163
Current infections: Rockingham County533533
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Covid-19 news

On March 1, Gov. Chris Sununu issued Emergency Order No. 86, an order authorizing certain retired health care workers to administer Covid-19 vaccines in the state. Any retired or inactive physician, physician assistant, registered nurse or licensed practical nurse who was previously licensed and in good standing within the last five years is permitted to administer doses of the vaccine, provided he or she completes the CDC’s vaccine training modules. This follows a similar order that was issued in January allowing registered and certified pharmacy technicians to give vaccine shots under certain conditions.

State officials in their weekly public health update on March 4 reported that there have been about 200 to 250 new infections of Covid-19 on average, “a slow decrease over past weeks,” state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said. State hospitalizations, test positivity rates and deaths also continue to trend downward, while the amount of vaccine doses administered is increasing each week. As of March 4, 17 percent of the state’s population has received one dose, with 8 percent fully vaccinated, according to Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services.

Later during the same press conference, Sununu announced that the state will likely be moving into Phases 2A and 2B of its vaccine administration plan ahead of schedule “well before March is over.” Phase 2A includes K through 12 teachers, school staff and child care workers — beginning March 12, the state’s regional public health networks will begin scheduling vaccination clinics in partnership with school officials. “For those who choose and can organize it, we can actually provide the vaccinations right there in a closed pod clinic atmosphere,” Sununu said. For communities where this isn’t possible, Sununu added that registration for vaccine appointments through the state-run scheduling system will begin on March 17.

People in Phase 2B, which includes those over the age of 50, will be able to register starting March 22, with the first appointments to begin on March 25. “If we get more and more vaccine, there is still an opportunity for some of these dates to change, to even move up further,” Sununu said.

On March 5, Sununu issued Executive Order 2021-4, extending the state of emergency in New Hampshire due to the pandemic for another three weeks through at least March 26. With this new extension, New Hampshire has now been in a state of emergency for more than a year.

House appeal

On March 2, Democratic members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives filed an appeal in federal court seeking remote access to House sessions for disabled House members, according to a press release. The appeal asks the court to overturn U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty’s ruling that Republican House Speaker Sherman Packard does not have to use remote technology and that Packard is immune from the Democratic lawmakers’ suit. The House met in person for a two-day session last month at the NH Sportsplex in Bedford. “We have appealed because we believe the Courts should be available to protect the disabled from discrimination, especially when discrimination is used to gain an unfair political advantage by robbing 100,000 citizens of representation in what should always be the people’s House,” Deputy Democratic Leader David Cote (D-Nashua), one of the plaintiffs in the appeal, said in the press release.

Resignations and nominations

New Hampshire’s United States Attorney Scott W. Murray resigned from his position effective March 6, according to a press release, in response to President Joe Biden’s call to replace nearly all remaining presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys. Murray was nominated by President Donald Trump and was sworn in on March 5, 2018, after serving his fourth term as Merrimack County Attorney. First Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Farley will serve as Acting United States Attorney until a new presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney takes office, according to the release.

On March 3, Gov. Chris Sununu nominated John Formella to serve as the state’s next attorney general, according to a press release. Formella currently serves as Sununu’s legal counsel, a position he has held since Sununu first took office in 2017. A confirmation vore is expected at the March 24 Governor and Council meeting, the release said.
Formella will replace Gordon J. MacDonald, who served as New Hampshire’s attorney general from April 13, 2017, until March 4, according to another press release that announced MacDonald as the new chief justice of New Hampshire. MacDonald was sworn in by Sununu during a ceremony in the Supreme Court’s courtroom on March 4.

Approximately 7,800 people received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the state’s first mass vaccination site at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on March 6 and March 7, with an additional 3,800 expected to receive the vaccine on Monday, according to a report from WMUR. According to the report, there were some technological issues on Saturday that created long wait times for some, but those problems were resolved and the process was much smoother on Day 2.

A free online training safety program for all servers and food preparers called NH Promise is now available through the NH Lodging & Restaurant Association and the Community College System of New Hampshire, according to a press release. The two organizations joined forces to help eateries certify that their staff has been trained in the latest Covid-related safety precautions, in part to reassure the public that restaurants are safe spaces. According to the release, an event announcing the program was scheduled for March 9 at the Common Man in Concord, where staff was the first to be certified.

Makin’ It Happen and the City of Manchester have launched a comprehensive harm reduction strategy with the goal of moving people who are struggling with a substance use disorder toward treatment and recovery, according to a press release. The strategy is funded by the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief & Recovery and includes initiatives like connecting people to primary care and mental health services; providing access to Naloxone (Narcan) and training to prevent overdose deaths; and offering screening and vaccinations for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

The Reference Room

Most folks probably scanned past the news item that recently reported the imminent closure of the 450-year-old “Lamb and Flag” pub in Oxford, England. This venerable gathering place on St. Giles Street has served clients local and visiting, famous and ordinary, and even the likes of me. The pub not only held fond memories for me, it also indirectly affected the upbringing of my children.
In the early ’70s, while doing research for my doctoral dissertation in the Bodleian Library nearby, I would repair to the Lamb and Flag at the end of the day for well-earned refreshment. My favorite seat in the pub — if it were available — was at an ancient and worn oak round table situated in a corner and flanked by two tall bookcases.
On my first visit to the pub, that space caught my eye because it was occupied that afternoon by an Oxford don and three of his students. I sat close enough to them to engage in my favorite pastime, namely eavesdropping. They were discussing a poem and each had their book open in front of them along with a pint of bitter. Behind them, the two tall bookcases were filled with Oxford University Press reference books. From time to time, I noticed, one of the group would turn around, take down a book, and look up a reference. I was fascinated by the ritual, not to mention the novelty that a pub would keep so many shelves of reference books. Thereafter, I sat at that table every time I could and I too would turn and look something up from one of the books.
Twenty-five years later, my family and I moved into a house in southern Oregon. A feature of the house that attracted me immediately was a little corner dining nook that had two tall bookshelves behind it. Ah ha! I decided to fill it with all of my reference books, from the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music, Dictionary of Ancient History and Fowler’s Modern English Usage, to The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang. There were tomes of history, books on world religions, collections of poetry and language dictionaries.
Before long, our family had its own ritual. We had many of our meals together at that round table in the nook. Whenever a question of fact or definition arose, someone would say, “Let’s look it up” and would reach around to find the appropriate reference work. Tedious? Yes, I am sure our son and daughter felt that way many times. Nevertheless, we sorted out a number of homework assignments, not to mention settled disputes.
So, yes. I shall miss the Lamb and Flag, almost as much as I miss those family gatherings around our own reference table. With Google readily available now, we don’t need those any more. Do we?

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