Football
Tressel Drawing Large Crowds at Book Signings
By John PorentasOSU Head Coach Jim Tressel book signing tour is in progress and the coach is drawing big crowds wherever he goes.
Tressel's first signing took place on Tuesday at a bookstore called Bookends in Ridgewood, New Jersey, a place you would not really expect to be a hotbed of Buckeye fervor, but according to Tyndale Press public relations representative Todd Starowitz the crowds were impressive in New Jersey.
"We really didn't know what to expect," said Starowitz. "We arrived at the bookstore and there were about 500 people there. The store in New Jersey has a lot of big signings and they were absolutely blown away by the signing yesterday," Starowitz said.
The store in New Jersey had ordered 500 books for the signing and sold them all the day Tressel was there. Tressel's first signing event in Columbus took place at the Kroger store at Northwest Boulevard and Chambers not far from the OSU campus. As you might expect, the crowd was impressive. Fans lined up outside the store hours before the 11:00 AM start of the signing. The line went the entire length of the north side of the store, wrapped around the east end and then extended out into the parking lot.
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The first group in line consisted of Kim, Aaron and Jerod Maynard along with Wanda Perkins. The group arrived at 8:00 AM to make sure they would get a signed book. Kim, mother of Aaron and Jerod, explained why they were so anxious to have their books autographed.
"It's just something we can have that he's actually signed," she said.
Photo by Jim DavidsonThe early birds were treated to entertainment by a small ensemble from the OSU marching band on the sunny and warm day. When the doors finally opened Tressel was seated at a table and did his very best to accommodate everyone who was there seeking his signature.
Like the store in New Jersey, Kroger ordered 500 copies of the book to support the signing event. They problem was that that put the book out on sale the previous night at a discounted price of 25 percent off the suggested retail. The sales were so strong that the book sold out at 11:13 AM on Wednesday, just 13 minutes after the signing began. That left Kroger scrambling to find more books. They eventually rounded some up from other local retailers, but the situation made for some anxious moments for the organizers.
"Sports books traditionally do not sell very well, so Kroger has to look at their model," said Starowitz explaining how Kroger probably made their buying decision on the quantity of books to have on hand.
"It (Tressel's book) is absolutely and exceptional seller," he added.
The Barnes and Noble bookstore at the Lennox Shopping complex on Olentangy reported selling out of the book on Tuesday. They got an emergency shipment in late Wednesday.
Starowitz did not expect any supply problems going forward with the signing schedule.
"We have two shipments of books, thousands of books, driving over to Columbus as we speak," he said.
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Book signing wasn't the only activity at Kroger. You could have your face painted as well. Photo by Jim Davidson |
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Tressel greets a U. S. Marine who dropped by to have a book signed. Photo by Jim Davidson |
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Fans were limited to signatures in three books. No other merchandise could be signed. Most in line had the maximum number. Photo by Jim Davidson |
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