Starbucks Adding Books to Its Lineup of Merchandise

Starbucks Corp., which has already entered the entertainment marketing world with the sale of special edition CDs, is getting into book sales, the largest U.S. coffeehouse chain announced Monday.

In its first such in-store campaign, to begin Oct. 3, the company plans to sell copies of Mitch Albom’s novel, “For One More Day,” published by Hyperion.

Albom is the author of “Tuesdays With Morrie,” a memoir that has sold more than 11 million copies.

The promotional effort for Albom’s new book will include a Starbucks Book Break on Oct. 26, in which 25 stores in major cities will be “encouraging meaningful conversations about this literary work,” executives of Seattle-based Starbucks said in a statement.

The company also will schedule in-store book signings by Albom in selected markets, as well as an original video conversation with the author to be played in stores and online.

With the author’s permission, Starbucks will donate a dollar from every copy of the new book sold to Jumpstart, a national nonprofit early education organization that focuses on literacy and targets at-risk preschoolers entering kindergarten.

“Today’s announcement reflects our new and ongoing commitment to offering our customers the unique opportunity to discover books as part of their daily coffee routines,” said Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment.