Bill & Cecile Fehsenfeld, Owners

Grand Rapids

Our flagship store is located in Grand Rapids (http://www.experiencegr.com/), Michigan's second largest city, recently named Lonely Planet's No. 1 US City to visit in 2014.

Grand Rapids is nationally known for its annual Art Prize (http://www.artprize.org/) competition, featured on CNN as Michigan's must-see destination for 2014. Grand Rapids is the world headquarters of Amway, Steelcase and Herman Miller, with local highlights including the Gerald R. Ford Museum, Fredrick Meijer Gardens, the Van Andel Museum Center and the Van Andel Institute for Cancer Research. The city is also an educational center, serving Grand Valley State University, Calvin College, Grand Rapids Community College and Kendall College of Art and Design.

GR plays an integral part in the farm-to-table movement in Michigan, with several restaurants providing locally sourced, farm to table menus and/or options that highlight a diverse community reliant on agriculture and urban farming as a means to sustainability. Grand Rapids was also designated “Beer City USA”, with a host of breweries, cideries, and wineries peppering the West Michigan area. Tastings and workshops are well-attended, and sought after in the area. Our partnerships with The Wellness Forum, and Downtown Market GR, and area farmers markets have provided regular support to draw in a diverse crowd to events on these topics.

Travel distance from Detroit is 2.5 hours and only 3 hours from Chicago. Travel time between our Lansing stores and our Grand Rapids location is a one-hour drive. Grand Rapids can also be reached via the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. (http://www.grr.org/)

Event Accomodations

Our Grand Rapids store can accommodate up to 150 people seated in The Studio, our in-store performance space. For all events, The Studio is set up with chairs and sound equipment for lectures, workshops and demonstrations. We can accommodate well over 500 people for booksignings and media events.

The Grand Rapids flagship location has established valuable partnerships with many existing non-profit and for-profit groups that not only utilize our bookstore for regularly scheduled meetings and events and provide assistance in marketing efforts, but also rely on Schuler Books as bookstore support at off-site venues. The Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical Association brings in a group of 50+ enthusiasts monthly, and we have developed and incorporated a consistent book lecture schedule on that topic. The West Michigan Table-top Gamers groups meet twice a month and are enthusiastic to showcase and play new board games to their 50+ members.

Forest Hills Fine Arts Center Partnership

For top-tier author events, our Grand Rapids store has established a partnership with the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center for large-scale offsite events, with combined promotion between the FHFAC and Schuler Books. Owned and operated by the Forest Hills School District, the state-of-the-art facility offers the resources and amenities more typically associated with a regional performance theater, including a 4,500 square foot stage in an auditorium that seats more than 1,200 people. The scenic lobby provides a natural backdrop for the display of original artwork, and will double as a spacious venue for signings. Throughout the building, multi-purpose meeting and classrooms equipped with the latest audio-visual and Internet technologies offer maximum flexibility to support a broad range of functions, while visual arts and dance studios provide creative working environments for students and professionals. Scheduled author events could also include "extras" like ticketed author dinners, meet-and-greets, and presentations to faculty and students.

Local Media and Partner Organizations

Media: Michigan Radio (NPR), Grand Rapids Press/mLive Media Group, WXMI Fox 17, On The Town Magazine, Revue Magazine Partnerships: Local First, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), ArtPrize, Grand Valley State University Schools and Departments, Grand Rapids Public Schools, West Michigan Literacy Council, Grand Rapids Public Library, Kent District Library, Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical Association, Sister Cities International, Opera Grand Rapids, The Economics Club of Grand Rapids, The Grand Rapids Ballet

Lansing Area

Our large-format store in the Lansing area (http://www.lansing.org/) caters to Michigan's capital city and its outer-lying towns and suburbs, as well as the Michigan State University community. The store is located in the Meridian Mall (http://www.meridianmall.com/shop/meridian.nsf/index), centrally located within a number of Lansing's more affluent suburbs.

It is located within one-hour drive from Ann Arbor, a 1.5 hour drive from Detroit, and a 3.5 hour drive from Chicago. Lansing is also home to the Capital Region International Airport (http://www.flylansing.com/), with regular flights to Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Washington D.C., Orlando and Atlanta.

Event Accomodations

The store seats 100 guests comfortably, and we have standing room for crowds of up to 500. We are also capable of hosting larger signings and have run highly successful events with crowds of over 900 people. We also have experience with Skype events and has all the equipment necessary for fully interactive web-based author events.

Wharton Center for Performing Arts Partnership

For larger author events, our Lansing-area location has established a partnership with MSU's Wharton Center for Performing Arts (http://www.whartoncenter.com/) that would allow us to host top-tier authors in their theaters, with combined promotion between Wharton Center and Schuler Books. The Wharton Center houses two theaters -- the Grand Hall, which seats 1,700, and the Pasant Theatre, which seats 600 -- and is interested in partnering with Schuler Books on additional dates for its World Lecture Series, as well as the possibility of creating an entirely new author series. Scheduled author events could also include "extras" like ticketed author dinners, meet-and-greets, and presentations to faculty and students.

Local Media and Partner Organizations

Media: The Lansing State Journal, Lansing City Pulse, Michigan Radio (NPR), WKAR (MSU Public Media), 88.9 The Impact (MSU student radio), MacDonald Broadcasting (Pop, R&B, Talk Radio and Classics), Cumulus Media (Pop, Classic Rock, Country, Talk Radio, ESPN affiliate), WLNZ (Lansing Community College Radio), Between the Lines (LGBT newspaper), The State News (award-winning MSU student paper), Lansing Community News, WLNS - TV 6, WILX TV 10, WLAJ TV 53, WSYM Fox 47

Partnerships: Local First, the Michigan Humanities Council, the Michigan Notable Books program, the Capital Area Literacy Coalition, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the Capital Area District Library, Michigan State University schools and departments, the MSU College of Law, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts, Lansing Community College, the Ingham County Animal Shelter, the Rally of Writers, the MSU Young Authors Conference, Riverwalk Theatre, Sistrum Women’s Choir, the Arts Chorale of Greater Lansing, Celebration Cinema, the Lansing City Market, various local school districts, and others.