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Feed the Need Can serving up food and drink improve your sales?

By Gwen Moran Edited by Frances Dodds

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

At the end of a popular bike trail in Purcellville, Virginia,Linda Singer's Final Draft Booksellers lures bicyclists with drinks,nutrition bars and delicious fudge-and of course, her widearray of tomes.

"The food component of the business complementsbookselling," Singer, 40, says. "People come in forsomething to drink and say, 'Oh, books!' Or [they] come infor a book and pick up a cup of coffee. One drives sales of theother."

Call it "shopper-tainment": the trend of adding morebenefits to the shopping experience, including food and drink. SaysEdgar A. Falk, authorof 1001 Ideas to Create Retail Excitement(Penguin), "Food centers can build revenue and goodwill,encouraging people to spend more time and money in yourstore."

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