Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 31

CURI0NLEDGER.COM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2002 THE CLARION-LEDGER 31 MARCH 27 As independent booksellers near retirement, they are wondering who will replace them By Hillel Italie Associated Press Writer MARCH 28 Mental Hearth Self-Help Recovery Inc. meeting, Mental Health Center, 969 Lakeland Drive, Jackson; for depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, panic, job stress and more; 7 p.m.; free; details, 924-1344. The Merry Wives of Windsor. University of Southern Mississippi, Mannoni Performing Arts Center, Hattiesburg; 8 p.m.; details, 266-5418. Handworks Spring and Easter Market, Mikhail's, 4330 N.

State Jackson; 9 a.m. -7 p.m.; $5, children free; details, 981-1052. Joshua Noote, senior recital, Belhaven College, Jackson; 7.30 p.m.; free; details, 965-7026. Diabetes support group, relational and experiential counseling, 749 High Jackson; 11:30 a. p.m.; $30; details, 354-4567.

Buddhist study group, Soka Gakkai International, 1901 Catalina Drive, Jackson; 7 p.m.; free; details, 372-7619. Business Management for Your Small Business seminar, Jackson Enterprise Center, 931 U.S. 80 Jackson; hosted by Jackson State University Small Business Development Center; 6-9 p.m.; free; details, 979-2795. Macbeth, University of Southern Mississippi, Mannoni Performing Arts Center, Hattiesburg; 8 p.m.; details, 266-5418. Suzanne Kingsbury, Lemuria, 202 Banner Hall, Jackson; signs and reads The Summer Fletcher Greet Loved Me; signing 5:30 p.m., reading 7 p.m.; details, 366-7619.

Edward Cohen, Square Books, 160 Courthouse Square, Oxford; signs and reads The Peddler's Grandson: Growing Up Jewish in Mississippi; signing 5 p.m., reading 7:30 p.m.; details, (662) 234-9630. kJL jjfSP EEEEmt XJ Send your listings at least a week in advance to Calendar, Southern Style, The Clarion-Ledger, Box 40, Jackson MS 39205-0040 or fax to 961-7325. Include a description of the event, location, times, dates, costs and a phone number for details. For information, call 961-7241. it.

Andy Graves needed generous terms to take over The Happy Bookseller in Columbia, S.C. The previous owner, Rhett Jackson, is allowing him to pay off the debt through profits from the store. Finding people to start new stores is just as difficult as finding buyers of existing ones. According to Oren Teicher, chief operating officer of the American Booksellers Association, just 100 members were added in 2001, the lowest annual figure in years. Meanwhile, between 250 and 300 stores closed, bringing association membership down to about 2,200, less than half the number a decade ago.

And competition from the chains has meant that more and more sellers run "specialty" shops stores appealing to a specific niche such as travel or self-help. Few aspire to be like Tattered Cover in Denver or Powell's Books in Portland, independent shops with a vast, general selection. Opening a bookstore is far more expensive than it was a generation ago. Frank says he needed less than $50,000 to start The Booksmith. Teicher says a typical store now would cost around $750,000.

Publicity about the struggles of independent stores has made it less likely that banks will extend credit. And Teicher wonders how many prospective owners would be willing to risk a business not known for easy profits. "There still are lots of people who have this romantic notion to run a bookstore, but then they look at the economics: working seven days a week, 14 hours a day," Teicher says. "You're operating a retail bookstore and earning a year. Look at that in comparison to what a college graduate might earn in some other field.

In today's economy, it's a hard sell." 'As 'Random Years' are off UPN schedule NEW YORK Gary Frank, longtime owner of The Booksmith in San Francisco, is thinking about retirement. Finding a buyer shouldn't be that hard: The bookstore is doing well and it's located in the historic Haight-Ashbury district. But Frank isn't sure he'll succeed. His children aren't interested in running the family business and he's wary of just anyone taking over. He wants someone who cares about books, someone undeterred by all the talk about the decline of independent stores.

After a decade of competing with superstore chains and online retailers, booksellers such as Frank now face a truly immovable foe time itself. Hundreds of owners who founded stores in the 1960s and 70s, a golden age for independent sellers, are now in their 50s and 60s and wondering who will replace them. "You have all these people who really want to bow out and just don't know what to do," says Frank, 50, who started The Book-smith in 1976. "There are a lot of good bookstores that are still good businesses sitting there, waiting for a good buyer. But where are the good buyers?" says John Barringer, owner of the Little Professor Book Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Barringer, 66, considered selling a few years ago, but encountered only "tire-kickers," those who simply liked the idea of running a bookstore. Now semire-tired, he says he could guarantee a 20 percent return on the investment, but still doubts that he'd find any takers. "A bookstore in most communities is not terribly salable because there are so many of them," says Barringer, whose store is within 2 George Nikitin The Associated Press Gary Frank is owner of The Booksmith in San Francisco's Haight-Asbury district. Frank is among a growing number of independent bookstore owners near retirement who wonder who will replace them. From wire reports Vampire Slayer.

The two shows were getting a tryout in the post-Bufyslot usually occupied by Roswell, which is set to return April 23. Roswell has struggled in the ratings some this season as well, airing in perhaps the most competitive hour of the week. But it still averaged almost double the rating (2.03) and twice the number of total viewers (3 million) of As If and The Random Years. miles of three superstores. The "succession" problem has caused so much concern that the American Booksellers Association is planning a workshop at this May's BookExpo America.

A recent suggestion that California store owners meet and discuss retirement strategies received an "ovemhelming response," according to Hut Landon, executive director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association. "Many of the stores have been in business 15, 25, 30 years. It's a very mature market, with a lot of customer loyalty, and they've been able to fight the superstores," Landon says. "But the other side of the mature market is that a lot of owners are ready to retire." Selling an independent bookstore, owners say, is nothing like selling an ordinary business. The goal isn't to make a profit and walk away.

They see their stores as members of communities and want them to remain so. "Booksellers want to find someone they believe will carry on the tradition of the store," says Rusty Drugan, executive director of the New England Booksellers Associa-tion. "The prospective buyer should have a passion for what the store stands for and not just a passion for money." Store employees are a possible solution, although few can afford LOS ANGELES UPN's recent stab at hip, twentysome-thing comedy has apparently missed its mark. The midseason comedies As If and The Random Years have both been placed on hiatus. They were replaced at 8 p.m.

Tuesday by a repeat of the premiere of Under One Roof, UPN's new reality series. The two shows have performed very poorly in the Nielsen ratings, with As If averaging only a 1A4 in its two broadcasts and Random Years drawing only a 1.02. They're the two lowest-rated shows on any of the six broadcast networks this season. On March 12, the two shows averaged about 1.4 million viewers, losing two-thirds of the audience from their lead-in, Buffy the 250 RING ROAD ALL DIGITAL SOUND ET (PG) 1 10 3 50 6 50 9 30 1:30 4:20 7:20 10:00 A BEAUTIFUL MIND (PG-13) Teeth: Over-the-counter or dentist-delivered treatments OK I A SORORITY BOYS (R) 1:40 4:10 7:10 9:30 ICE AGE IPG) WE WERE SOLDIERS (R) 1:30 4:30 7:30 10:30 RESIDENT EVIL (R) 1:40 4:20 7:00 9:50 JOHN Q. (PG-13) 2:00 4:40 7:20 10:20 BLADE 2 (R) 1:20 4:10 7:00 9:40 1:50 4:50 7:30 10:20 A SHOWTIME (PG-13) 1:00 3:10 5:30 7:50 10:10 A THE TIME MACHINE (PG-13) 1:00 3:10 5:30 7:50 10:10 rams? From IE 1:20 3:20 5 30 7:40 9:50 ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS (R) SAVE 75 1:50 4 30 7 30 10 00 superquirk Regardless, also know this: Unless you do the power bleach, it's only going to last around six months or maybe ayear, depending on which system you went with.

Also: whitening toothpaste helps. Unless your teeth really are rotted. In this case, it might be best to make friends with a dentist. On Btese's pieces when you buy nay Coca-Colo Popcorn tomho AIRPORT RD LAKELAND DR. 1 im ALL DIGITAL kftllkiersw SOUND A RESIDED ENT EVIL IR A SORORITY BOYS (R) 1:20 3:40 5:45 7:50 10:04 A BLADE 2 (R 1:30 4:00 7:00 9:30 ffitovfonvp jackson h.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS (R) 1.15 3:40 545 7:45 9:40 JOHN Q. (PG-13) 1:20 4:20 7:30 10:00 ICE AGE (PG) 1:40 3:30 5:30 7:30 9:30 A SHOWTIME (PG-13) 1:10 3:30 5:30 7:40 9:50 WE WERE SOLDIERS (R) 1:45 4:45 7:45 TIME MACHINE (PG-13) We offer the rooel unique ting venue In town mnnaav Many room now avanapie 1:30 4:10 7:20 9:40 AEJ.RE:20THAmws)it)PG) 1:10 4:10 7:10 9:45 Caption Film Moulin Rouge plays on Wed and Tim rs 4 PM and 7 PM In ALL STADIUM SEATING the place of Time Machine iJutlNRuUGf (PG-13) "The main reason you would want to do this is that unless you're a very disciplined person, it's hard to do the bleaching at home," he says. "Also, when you do this procedure, you isolate the gums, so you don't have any sensitivity." So to decide, factor in how much money, time and discipline you have. And then, think about the severity of your stains. "A lot depends on the type of staining," Boswell says.

"Your yellowish stains tend to do a lot better with home bleach, whereas with dark or grayer stains, you may want to do a power bleach." The really dark stains are usually a result of antibiotics such as tetracycline that your mother may have taken before you were born, or that you may have taken. "A lot also depends on the patient," he says. "Nowadays, we're finding patients who would rather come in and have a one-time deal than have to bother with it for a couple of weeks." at 4:20 and 7:20 PM 201 CLINTON CENTER DRIVE MONSTER BALL IR 2:45 7:45 QUEEN OF THE DAMNED (R) 5:10 10:15 A BEAUTIFUL MIND i PG-1 3 4:15 7:15 10:20 RESIDENT EVIL (R 2:20 4 40 7:50 10 20 SHOWTIME (PG-13) 2:35 5:00 7:20 9:45 SNOW DOGS (PG) 5:05 10:05 SORORITY BOYS (R) 240 5:10 7:50 10:05 THE TIME MACHINE (PG-13) 2:45 5:20 7:45 10:10 WE WERE SOLDIERS (R) 4:30 7:25 10:25 ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS 2:35 4:50 7:35 10:15 BLADE 2 (R) 2:15 4:45 7:20 9:50 3:00 5:30 8:00 10:30 DRAGONFLY (P0-13J 2:25 4:40 7.00 9:50 E.T. (2QTH ANNIVERSARY) 2:15 4:55 7:30 10:10 FORTY DAYS 40 NIGHTS (Rj 2:50 7.55 ICE AGE (PG) 2:25 5:05 7:10 9:30 2:50 5:20 7:40 9:45 JOHN 0 (PG-131 4:25 7:15 9:55 LORD OF THE RINGS (PG-131 4:00 8:00 NOW PLAYING CLINTON 10 924 PARKWAY PLACE 10 TIME MACHINE (PG13) 1:35 4:20 7:15 9:20 ET (PG) 1:30 4:10 6:50 9:30 BLADE 2 (R) 2:10 4:40 7:30 10:00 SHOWTIME (PG13) 1:10 3:20 7:20 9:35 JOHN Q. (PG13) 2:00 4:30 7:10 9:40 WE WERE SOLDIERS (R) 3:30 6:30 9:30 A RESIDENT EVIL (R) 1:20 3:40 7:15 9:25 A SORORITY BOYS (R) 1:15 3:30 7:20 9:35 ICE AGE (PG) 1:00 3:00 5:00 7:00 ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS (R) 1:05 3:20 6:10 8:30 NORTHPAHK 14 TINSELTOWN hi 1161 936 6611 IRECTOniES OX CALL FOR BHOWTIMB8 I PS OR DISCOUNT TICKETS ACCEPTED.

your dentist.) Now then. Here are your options: Over-the-counter, do-it-yourself. This includes the Rembrandt toothpastes and whitening systems you see in the drugstore, and Crest Whitestrips. This takes a couple of weeks of diligent use, and will run you anywhere from Drawbacks: The trays and strips aren't specially fitted to your teeth, so the peroxide is more likely to swish onto your gums. For many people, this is uncomfortable.

Also, with the strips, they won't reach to whiten the back teeth. "But with most people with a normal smile, really the only thing you see are the front teeth anyway," Boswell says. It takes discipline. Advantages: It's relatively cheap. At-home bleaching kits you get from the dentist Same idea as the over-the-counter kits, except the trays are custom-made to fit your mouth, whereas the trays you get in the over-the-counter kits are one size fits all.

Also, the peroxide concentration is higher in these than in the drugstore kits; ergo, your teeth get whiter. This also takes a couple of weeks, and runs between depending on your dentist. Drawbacks: Taking time to have your teeth fitted for these dental trays; also, not inexpensive. Advantages: It's a professional job. It's less likely to cause your gums to be sensitive due to the peroxide.

Power bleaching. Some not all dentists do this, maybe 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 Suzanne Kingsbury hilarious: ie Wot). JEANNE WOLF'S HOLLYWOOD Rick GuyThe Clarion-Ledger Teeth-whitening systems usually last only around six months, so you might want to invest in a maintenance kit to keep that smile bright. because there's the purchase of an expensive machine involved. This method takes only an hour or so.

You sit under a lamp (some have UV, others don't) with a hydrogen peroxide solution on your teeth. After an hour, they're bright white. Usually costs around $500. Drawbacks: It's $500. Advantages: It's quick, easy, painless and does not require the same discipline you'd need to stick those strips or trays in your mouth for 20-30 minutes twice a day.

Michael Campbell, a Jackson-area dentist, has been doing a version of this called the Rembrandt One-Hour Smile Whitening Program for about eight months now. His system utilizes a xenon arc lamp, with a filter that removes virtually all of the ultraviolet and infrared rays. Open Sunday llam-5pm Open Daily 8am-8pm ROBERT EDDIE DENIRO MURPHY ICE GUYS FINISH FIRST! AGE The Summer Fletcher Greel Loved Me Wednesday, March 27th UNITED ARTISTS PARKWAY PLACE 10 NOW PLAYING AT THESE THEATRES! tk signing 5:30 reading 7:00 1 ITFBABV CINEMARK UNITED ARTISTS TINSELTOWN PEARL NORTH PARK 411 Riveivjrnd 250 Ring Road 936-6611 957-1161 UNITED ARTISTS CLINTON 10 CHECK THEATRE OfflECTOBV OR n.nttvi rit- cau. for showtwes 924-2911 sHmD IMDMTni CLINTON 10 SI HnCI 924-291! NOW SHOWING! 24.00 Scribner UNITED ARTISTS PARKWAY PLACE 10 AiwtRd LaketarrdOr 939-1700 UNITED ARTISTS ONE MARK NQHTHPARK 14 TINSELTOWN-PEARL 2M Ring Road 411 Rmrwnc'Di 957-1161 936-6611 CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORY, OR CALL FOR SHOWTIMES LEMURIA 601-366-7619 800-366-7619 BANNER HALL EXIT10I.I-55N JACKSON, MS Moving as it is funny Lewis Nichols, The New York Times ESEBglBgHaa Loves Wrinkle Cream Hates Age Spots Annelle JimQ I jfXI A 1 5 A DEAR PATTY: I love Remember when I wrote and told you that 1 was a baby boomer who hated my facial and you told me about that wonderful discovery by a pharmacist, EB5 Facial Cream. Well, I bought a jar and it is I wish you could see how much younger I look.

I love it and recommend it to all my friends. But say, how about helping me with my other problems. terrible age spots on my hands and face. Thankful, Madison, Wl DEAR THANKFUL: I knew you would like the pharmacist's EB5 Facial Cream. Letters of praise have flowed in ever sinct my article ran telling how wonierful it is.

It actually works like 5 creams in one jar. is a Winkle Cream Throat Cream Fifning 24-hour Moisturizer Make-up Base. in one! March 21-24 and March 27-30 Wednesday -Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Sunday Matinee at 2 p.m. The Sunday matinee on March 24 will honor the "greatest generation." WWII veterans may reserve complimentary tickets by calling the box office.

Now, regarding your questions about Age Spots. same pharmacist, Robert Heldfond, has a new, exciting discovery. His EB5 Age Spot Formula is an entirely new concept which really helps remove dark pigments and discolorations. My readers love and so will you! NOTE: All EB5 formulas above are available at JCPenney. To hear Pharmacist Heldfond tell about all of his EB5 discoveries, phone toll-free: 1-800-929-8325 or visit his website at www.eb5.com.

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