Why Steel Buildings House the Best Book Businesses
Smart booksellers choose steel buildings for bookstores, libraries, and fulfillment centers. Pre-engineered steel buildings provide a strong, protective structure at an affordable price that is ideal for building a bookstore.
A few years ago, many saw bookstores as a dying industry. Experts expected e-books and digital readers to gobble up the market share of printed books.
However, America’s love of books lives on.
Book Selling Statistics
Almost 23,000 bookstores currently operate in the U.S.
Some large chain store booksellers have felt the pinch over the last five or six years. However, as American bookworms continue to devour their favorite tomes, book sales are rising. Predictions place annual book sales in the U.S. at $44 billion by 2020. The number of books bought each year in the U.S. could reach three billion the same year.
In spite of drastic market changes, independent booksellers continue to prosper, although not at their former rates. Currently, independent bookstores are enjoying an average 5% increase over last year’s sales.
Although e-book sales continue to grab a large piece of the market, 65% of readers still prefer the printed word. In fact, current statistics point toward a resurgence of printed book sales.
Why Construct Steel Buildings for Bookstores?
As in any product-driven business, protecting the inventory is paramount. The book industry is no different. Books should be housed in the safest possible structure. That structure is steel.
Using pre-engineered steel buildings for bookstores, libraries, and book warehouses provides the following advantages:
Water Protection: The last thing a bookseller needs is water leaks. Standing seam metal roofing promises the ultimate protection. In addition, RHINO Steel Building Systems includes many waterproofing features that other metal building companies lack.
Fire Protection: No book lover wants to see a library or bookstore go up in smoke. Fortunately, noncombustible commercial-grade steel thwarts fires two ways. Steel framing never becomes the point of ignition for a building fire. And unlike wood, steel will not add fuel to a fire.
Roominess: Being able to find volumes quickly in an industry with ever-changing inventory requires open unobstructed space. Only steel boasts the strength needed to create wide, clear-span space. In addition, taller steel buildings often employ steel mezzanine systems to add even more accessible inventory.
Quietness: Reading requires concentration. Thus, libraries and book retail operations demand quiet. Fortunately, the RHINO Pro-Value Insulation System radically reduces outside noise penetration.
Reduced Operating Budget: Steel’s fire-resistant qualities earn substantial discounts on building insurance with most carriers. Plus, the efficiency of the Pro-Value insulation chops energy bills in half. Steel buildings also require very little maintenance compared to other structures, further cutting overall operating costs.
Additional Protection: Steel’s strength provides greater protection from natural calamities, like strong winds, hefty snows, lightning strikes, and even earthquakes. And, as an inorganic building material, steel discourages mold, mildew, and even termite attacks, for improved indoor air quality.
Don’t Judge a Building by Its Covering
Just because your book business is framed with steel, it does not mean it has to look like a barn. (Although a Book Barn motif has possibilities, doesn’t it?) Today’s metal buildings may sport brick, glass, stone, stucco, tilt-up concrete or any other typical building treatment.
Whether you plan a cozy independent bookstore, a cavernous bookstore with a coffee bar, or a mega-warehouse for online book order fulfillments, steel is the answer.
Call RHINO now at 940.383.9566 to learn more about the wonders of prefabricated steel buildings for the book industry. We ship all across North America.