A 'fair' move
Faced with an aggressive timetable, Scholastic Book Fairs
New England makes short work of its move to Clinton
Normally, if you're operating on the calendar Scholastic Book Fairs is forced to go by, your biggest worries are bullies and homework.
But having its profits tied directly to the mostly September-June school year created bigger frustrations for the Scholastic Book Fairs' Marlborough-based New England regional office when it decided to relocate last year. The unique, unflexible timetable gave the company only a short window to complete the move. Any delay in finding a new home would have meant spending another year in too small a facility, sacrificing growth potential.
So when Scholastic found a "great facility" at 100 Adams St. in Clinton, hesitation was out of the question - even if it meant starting the move while a valuable tax incentive plan still faced the potential (however slim) of being shot down at town meeting.
"We have a very dynamic business that follows the school year," said Andy Spencer, regional general manager for Scholastic Book Fairs. "We have an opportunity when we get into the summertime that affords us the right time to be able to move our facilities. This has been a situation in the planning for many, many months, knowing we'd have a short window in order to move."
Some risk, big reward
Though both Spencer and Don Lowe, Clinton economic development director, said a tax incentive financing plan for the company is likely to pass (the four TIFs that have come to vote in Clinton have all gone through), it's rare for a business to relocate before every wrinkle is hammered out. But, because the office needs to be completely up and running by the start of the 2007-08 school year, 35 employees are making the move to Clinton on July 6, regardless of the outcome of a June 12 town meeting vote.
Remaining physical inventory will be transferred from Marlborough to Clinton on June 18. The fall season begins in earnest on Aug. 18.
"This is not a stipulation of whether or not we make the move," Spencer said. "We're going to Clinton regardless. The move is not dependent on it."
Spencer is hoping for big returns for the company, which operates the ubiquitous book fairs at New England preschools, elementary schools and middle schools - some 3,000 a year. The new location has 60,000 square feet of space (up from 28,000) and 32-foot ceilings to house tall book racks.
An initial search for a new location in Marlborough in the fall yielded no suitable facilities. In addition to being the hub for the company's New England book fair activity, the office will host occasional "warehouse" sales.
"Everything kind of came together quite well in terms of finding a location and being able to be in in the timing we needed," Spencer said.
Growth is likely. Lowe said he expects Scholastic to add 10 jobs after its move west.
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