Seagull Book

Seagull Book & Tape was founded in 1987 by V. Lewis Kofford, the owner of LDS publisher Covenant Communications.{{Cite web| title=Seagull Book Issues Statement About its Relationship with Deseret Book | work=PRLeap.com | publisher=PR Leap | date=July 21, 2006 | url=http://www.prleap.com/pr/41988/ | access-date=2010-02-02}} He had previously organized Covenant in 1984,{{Cite book| author=Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel | author-link=Richard Neitzel Holzapfel | chapter=Publishers and Bookstores | title=Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History | editor=Arnold K. Garr | editor-link=Arnold K. Garr |editor2=Donald Q. Cannon |editor2-link=Donald Q. Cannon |editor3=Richard O. Cowan |editor3-link=Richard O. Cowan | publisher=Deseret Book | location=Salt Lake City | year=2000}} which absorbed Covenant Recordings, an LDS audio tape producer which Kofford had owned since 1977.{{cite news | author=Knudson, Max B. | title=The only 'rock' you'll find here is 'Rock of Ages' | work=Deseret News | date=September 15, 1979 | page=S5 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ao0OAAAAIBAJ&dq=lewis-kofford&pg=5297%2C4831030 | access-date=2010-02-02}} He intended for Seagull to be a distribution channel for Covenant and other independent LDS publishers,{{cite news | author=Nii, Jenifer K. | title=Deseret Book severs relationship with Seagull | date=July 13, 2006 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/640194292/Deseret-Book-severs-relationship-with-Seagull.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020113246/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/640194292/Deseret-Book-severs-relationship-with-Seagull.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-02-02}} and for it to fill a discount retail niche in the LDS market by keeping low overhead and purchasing in volume.{{cite news | title=Seagull Book Opens W. Jordan Store | date=July 4, 1991 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/171042/SEAGULL-BOOK-OPENS-W-JORDAN-STORE.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020113337/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/171042/SEAGULL-BOOK-OPENS-W-JORDAN-STORE.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-02-02}} Headquartered in American Fork, Utah,{{cite news | author=Kratz, Gregory P. | title=One for the books | work=Deseret News | date=October 3, 1999 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/720896/One-for-the-books-Most-of-the-players-in-the-world-of-LDS-literature-give-a-thumbs-up-to-the-merger-of-Deseret-Book-and-Bookcraft.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121165931/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/720896/One-for-the-books-Most-of-the-players-in-the-world-of-LDS-literature-give-a-thumbs-up-to-the-merger-of-Deseret-Book-and-Bookcraft.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 21, 2013 | access-date=2010-02-02}}{{cite news | author=Anderton, Dave | title=Deseret Book rethinks offerings | work=Deseret News | date=November 20, 2002 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/949596/Deseret-Book-rethinks-offerings.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021233856/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/949596/Deseret-Book-rethinks-offerings.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 21, 2015 | access-date=2010-02-02}}{{cite news | author=Leong, Grace | title=Deseret Book buys Seagull Book & Tape | date=December 28, 2006 | work=Daily Herald | location=Provo, Utah | page=A1 | url=http://www.heraldextra.com/news/article_5b4fdec8-d5a4-5616-8d22-83b3bdd0fad7.html | access-date=2010-02-02}} the bookstore was initially a division of Covenant Communications,{{cite news | author=Chapek, Stephen | title=Orem's Granite Publishing buys Evans Book of SLC | date=March 26, 2003 | work=Daily Herald | url=http://www.heraldextra.com/business/article_c27671ad-9b5e-5be3-9efe-df38fb6c1989.html | access-date=2010-02-02}} and later its became its "sister company".

Seagull sold a variety of media types, including books, audio tapes, CDs, videos, and computer software. Some locations also bought and sold used and rare LDS books.{{cite news | title=Seagull Book Sales Rise 48% | work=Deseret News | date=January 22, 1992 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/205796/SEAGULL-BOOK-SALES-RISE-48.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020113410/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/205796/SEAGULL-BOOK-SALES-RISE-48.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-02-02}}{{cite news | title=Seagull Book Notes a Sales Boost of 212% | date=July 22, 1992 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/238882/SEAGULL-BOOK-NOTES-A-SALES-BOOST-OF-212.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020113511/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/238882/SEAGULL-BOOK-NOTES-A-SALES-BOOST-OF-212.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-02-02}}{{cite journal | title=Seagull Book & Tape | format=advertisement | journal=Journal of Mormon History | date=Spring 1993 | volume=19 | issue=1 | url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/jmh,14482 | access-date=2010-04-27}} The chain also sold traditional titles, such as self-improvement, fiction, children's books, cartoons and videos.{{cite news | title=Bookstore Reopens | date=August 16, 1991 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/178212/BOOKSTORE-REOPENS.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020113657/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/178212/BOOKSTORE-REOPENS.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-04-27}}

Before its acquisition of Seagull Book, Deseret Book was already the largest LDS retailer and the largest LDS publisher, and so from its founding Deseret Book products formed a significant portion of Seagull Book's offerings.{{cite news | author=Anderson, Vern | title=LDS book market swells into a $50 million-a-year business | date=August 21, 1990 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/118401/LDS-BOOK-MARKET-SWELLS-INTO-A-50-MILLION-A-YEAR-BUSINESS.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020113833/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/118401/LDS-BOOK-MARKET-SWELLS-INTO-A-50-MILLION-A-YEAR-BUSINESS.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-02-02}}{{Cite web| title=Using Public Relations to Fight a Crisis Communications Battle: The Seagull Book & Tape Case Study | publisher=Politis Communications | url=http://www.politis.com/using-public-relations-to-fight-a-crisis-communications-battle-the-seagull-book-and-tape-case-study.html | access-date=2010-02-02}} LDS retailers, including Deseret Book, expanded rapidly in the 1990s, and the market had doubled since with the 1970s.{{cite news | title=Market for LDS-related books creates tough competition | date=July 3, 1991 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/170695/MARKET-FOR-LDS-RELATED-BOOKS-CREATES-TOUGH-COMPETITION.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020113903/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/170695/MARKET-FOR-LDS-RELATED-BOOKS-CREATES-TOUGH-COMPETITION.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-02-02}} Seagull grew aggressively in its first few years{{cite news | title=Seagull Tape and Book posts 43.2% rise in sales | date=October 31, 1991 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/191220/SEAGULL-TAPE-AND-BOOK-POSTS-432-RISE-IN-SALES.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121111954/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/191220/SEAGULL-TAPE-AND-BOOK-POSTS-432-RISE-IN-SALES.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 21, 2013 | access-date=2010-02-02}} and kept comparable offerings to Deseret Book.{{cite news | author=Reed, Travis | title=LDS novel deemed too racy to publish | date=March 4, 2004 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595046855/LDS-novel-deemed-too-racy-to-publish.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020113958/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595046855/LDS-novel-deemed-too-racy-to-publish.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-04-27}}{{cite news | author=Genessy, Jody | title=Church Ball is a big hit | work=Deseret Morning News | date=August 25, 2004 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595086532/Church-Ball-is-a-big-hit.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020114022/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595086532/Church-Ball-is-a-big-hit.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-04-27}}{{cite news | author=Hardy, Rodger L. | title='Bloodline' book too hot to handle? | work=Deseret News | date=December 1, 2006 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/650211721/aposBloodlineapos-book-too-hot-to-handle.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724070050/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/650211721/aposBloodlineapos-book-too-hot-to-handle.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 24, 2012 | access-date=2010-04-27}}{{cite news |author1=L. Kay Carman |author2=Carol S. Reich | title=Reaching Out to Religious Youth: A Guide to Services, Programs, and Collections | year=2004 | page=95 | publisher=Libraries Unlimited | isbn=0-313-32041-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-fgAAAAMAAJ&q=%22seagull+book%22+-%22livingston+seagull%22 | access-date=2010-04-27}}

The company was a Kofford family business. From 1990 to 1992, Lewis brought in his son Greg Kofford, an MIT graduate and Wall Street investor, as Seagull's president and CEO.{{Cite web| title=Executive Focus: Greg L. Kofford, President, Seagull Book & Tape | work=Deseret News | date=June 14, 1992 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/232434/EXECUTIVE-FOCUS--GREG-L-KOFFORD-PRESIDENT-SEAGULL-BOOK--TAPE.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020124316/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/232434/EXECUTIVE-FOCUS--GREG-L-KOFFORD-PRESIDENT-SEAGULL-BOOK--TAPE.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-02-02}}{{Cite web | url=http://www.cogent-capital.com/CogentCapital/ourteam/| title=Our Team | publisher=Cogent Capital | archive-date=June 20, 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060620141325/http://www.cogent-capital.com/CogentCapital/ourteam/ | access-date=2010-02-02}} Afterward, Lewis Kofford himself served as president and CEO.{{cite news | author=Leong, Grace | title=Deseret Book, Seagull in talks | work=Daily Herald | date=July 19, 2006 | url=http://www.heraldextra.com/business/article_c9124e6b-787f-5429-81d5-688509999d49.html | access-date=2010-02-02}} Along with his daughter Kim Kofford served as Vice President, Merchandise and Marketing from 1997-2002. Then in the 2000s, Jon Kofford was vice president of Marketing and executive vice president.{{cite news | author=Nii, Jenifer K. | title=Two Utah book firms discussing options | work=Deseret News | date=July 20, 2006 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/640196094/Two-Utah-book-firms-discussing-options.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020124414/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/640196094/Two-Utah-book-firms-discussing-options.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-02-16}}

Image:Seagull Book 3.JPG (2010)|right]]

Seagull Book's first store was a {{convert|6000|sqfoot|m2}} retail space on Redwood Road in Salt Lake City. By 1990 it had grown to 8 locations. After expanding to 12 stores in 1991, including into California and Texas,{{cite news | title=Seagull Book Acquires L.A., Dallas Stores | work=Deseret News | date=October 9, 1991 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/187379/SEAGULL-BOOK-ACQUIRES-LA-DALLAS-STORES.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121213918/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/187379/SEAGULL-BOOK-ACQUIRES-LA-DALLAS-STORES.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 21, 2013 | access-date=2010-02-19}} revenue increased dramatically, leading to plans for further expansion. By 1992 the company had nearly $4 million in annual sales, 35 employees, and 15 locations.{{Cite web| title=Seagull Book & Tape opens Layton store | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/243180/SEAGULL-BOOK--TAPE-OPENS-LAYTON-STORE.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020124456/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/243180/SEAGULL-BOOK--TAPE-OPENS-LAYTON-STORE.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-02-02}}

During the 1990s Seagull had a cooperative advertising program with independent publisher Bookcraft, but when Deseret Book bought out Bookcraft in 1999 Seagull began to worry that Deseret Book would give preferential treatment to its own retail stores. In that same year Seagull launched SeagullBook.com as an online bookstore.{{Cite web | title=About Seagull Book | work=SeagullBook.com | publisher=Seagull Book Inc. | url=http://www.seagullbook.com/page-customer_service.html | access-date=2010-02-02 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315094643/http://www.seagullbook.com/page-customer_service.html | archive-date=2010-03-15 | url-status=dead }}

During the 2000s Seagull continued "chipping away" at Deseret Book as its main competitor.{{cite news | author=Nii, Jenifer K. | title=Deseret Book — minus books | work=Deseret News | date=March 1, 2001 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/828379/Deseret-Book--minus-books.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020124539/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/828379/Deseret-Book--minus-books.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=2010-02-16}} By 2006, it operated 26 stores with between 200 and 300 employees.

In July 2006, Deseret Book publicly disputed how its products were promoted at Seagull bookstores. Deseret Book claimed Seagull wasn't properly honoring its merchandising programs{{cite news | author=Mikita, Carole | title=Talks Continue Between Deseret Book and Seagull Book & Tape | date=July 14, 2006 | work=KSL.com | url=http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=360878 | access-date=2010-04-27}} or adequately utilizing promotional materials, which it requires of all its vendors. Deseret Book announced that its wholesale division would no longer sell to Seagull Book{{cite news | author=Nii, Jenifer K. | title=Deseret Book buys 2 top competitors | work=Deseret News | date=December 29, 2006 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/650218716/Deseret-Book-buys-2-top-competitors.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120170244/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/650218716/Deseret-Book-buys-2-top-competitors.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 20, 2010 | access-date=2010-02-02}} and it was not seeking negotiation before the decision would take effect at the end of the month.{{cite news | title=Seagull Book No Longer Allowed to Sell Deseret Book Products | date=July 12, 2006 | publisher=KSL | url=http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=356916 | access-date=2010-02-16}}

This announcement was "a complete surprise to Seagull management" who saw this as "a deliberate attack on its presence in the LDS market" and assumed "discount prices are the reason." Some worried this could crush Seagull's business, which was understood to rely on sales from Deseret Book products.{{citation |last= House |first= Dawn |title= Deseret Book buys out the competition |newspaper= The Salt Lake Tribune |date= December 28, 2006 |url= http://archive.sltrib.com/printfriendly.php?id=4915604&itype=ngpsid |access-date= 2013-09-10}}

In an attempt to negotiate their situation, Seagull Book consulted with a public relations company and scheduled a press conference. Within hours the conference was canceled when Deseret Book lifted their ban for one month to allow for talks with Seagull. As the companies explored the possibility of Deseret Book acquiring Seagull, the deadline was extended beyond August.

In December 2006, Deseret Book bought Seagull Book, as well as its sister company Covenant Communications, another major Deseret Book competitor. Financial details were not publicly disclosed.

At the age of 67, Lewis Kofford was considering retirement and initiated the buyout discussions. In recent years Deseret Book had acquired other major competitors, including Bookcraft, Excel Entertainment Group, and LDS Living magazine.{{cite journal | title=Deseret Book Buy Two More Competitors | journal=Sunstone | date=December 2006 | page=77 | url=http://www.sunstonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/144-74-79.pdf | access-date=2010-02-16}}

This created a chain of 69 stores, although they would continue as two independent, coexisting companies, and retain their existing stores, employees, and market specialties. The retailers were already successfully filling two different niches in the LDS market, and rather than transform into Deseret Book, Seagull would act as its discount chain. Seagull Book has continued to operate as an independent entity to Deseret Book retail stores.

Following the merger, independent publisher Kent Larsen published his concerns, saying that when Deseret Book has previously acquired its largest competitors (such as Bookcraft in 1999), the LDS market shrank resulting in fewer publications and leading to downsizing.

File:Seagull Book & Tape logo.svg

The "Tape" in Seagull Book & Tape referred to the store's marketing of audio cassette tapes, generally of recorded sermons and lectures of popular LDS speakers. Many of these products were produced by Covenant Recordings, or Covenant Communications, for which owner Lewis Kofford also founded Seagull as a retail outlet. When Seagull was sold to Deseret Book in 2006, the store's name was shortened to "Seagull Book".The corporate logo on the website was "Seagull Book & Tape" on [https://web.archive.org/web/20070103232106/http://www.seagullbook.com/ January 3, 2007] and "Seagull Book" on [https://web.archive.org/web/20070108150659/http://www.seagullbook.com/ January 8, 2007]. By this time audio tape products had been largely replaced by compact discs (CDs).

The seagull is a symbol in Mormon culture from the miracle of the gulls, a Mormon legend about gulls saving early Mormon pioneers from a plague of crickets. The California gull is the Utah state bird and appears in the LDS Church's Seagull Monument in Salt Lake City.{{Cite book| author=Sadler, Richard W. | chapter=Seagulls, Miracle of | title=Encyclopedia of Mormonism | editor=Daniel H. Ludlow | editor-link=Daniel H. Ludlow | year=1992 | publisher=Macmillan | location=New York | pages=1287–88 | chapter-url=http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Seagulls,_Miracle_of | access-date=2010-02-02| title-link=Encyclopedia of Mormonism }}

{{Reflist|2}}

• [http://www.seagullbook.com/ Seagull Book website]
• [http://deseretmanagement.com/our-companies/deseret-book/ Deseret Book corporate profile from Deseret Management Corporation, the parent company]
• Interviews on Mormon Stories in 2007 with [http://mormonstories.org/?p=190 Kent Larsen] and [http://mormonstories.org/?p=194 Christopher Bigelow] about the Seagull/Covenant acquisition

Category:1987 establishments in Utah

Category:Chain bookstores of the United States

Category:Companies based in Salt Lake City

Category:Deseret Management Corporation

Category:Retail companies disestablished in 2006

Category:Retail companies established in 1987

Category:Mormon literature