Hudson Group Partners with Martínez in Airport

by Judith Rosen -- Críticas, 9/15/2006

In March, airport retailer Hudson Group partnered with Librería Martínez Books and Art Gallery owner Rueben Martínez on a winning bid to add three bookstores at John Wayne/Orange County International Airport this fall. Martínez owns a 15 percent interest in the new stores, which will open this fall with several bays of Spanish-language books and magazines.

According to Sara Hinckely, VP of book purchasing and promotions at Hudson, which operates close to 500 newsstands, bookstores, and specialty retail stores in airports and transportation terminals throughout North America, the transportation giant will roll out a branding initiative with Martínez that will give Librería Martínez a reach well beyond its two stores in Santa Ana and a third in Lynwood, CA. At the same time, Hudson will gain larger, personalized assortments of Spanish-language books at about 50 of its stores in ten airports, including those in Miami, Houston, Dallas, and New York.

The branded Spanish-language book sections, to be named Librería Martínez Books, will have signage with a picture of Martinez to indicate his role in recommending the titles “We feel very strongly that the work that Librería Martínez is doing in its markets and communities is important,” said Hinckley of the decision to rename some sections and add new ones. “As true booksellers, that dovetails into our mission. We’re about passion for books—and sales.”

At some airports, like the Los Angeles International Airport, Martínez has already begun working with the company to significantly increase the title base. “I gave them a list of 200 of our bestsellers,” says Martínez, who has also encouraged Hudson to add window signage indicating libros en español. “The mindset with travelers who read and write in Spanish is that they will go right past if they don’t think there are any books for them.” Citing the statistic that 26 percent of Latino families that travel do so for leisure, Martínez said he is eager to make Spanish-language books available, as well as books written in English by Latino authors.

In the not too distant future, two of those books might well be Martínez’s own. He is currently at work on a memoir about his life between the ages of ten and 25, as well as a children’s book, based on a real-life experience, Born in the Corn.