Ann Arbor’s Above the Treeline hires 1, plans to add 2

A big piece of the future future was unwritten for Above the Treeline when we last checked in with the downtown Ann Arbor-based firm.Then its product “Edelweiss” was just getting its foothold in the marketplace. Last year it accounted for 5-10 percent of the bookseller software firm’s revenue. That number is expected to hit 30-35 percent by next year and even more after that.”It’s at least a major part of the future for us,” says John Rubin, president and CEO of Above the Treeline.Edelweiss is an Internet-based interactive service that supplements or replaces traditional hard-copy publisher catalogs. Think of it as an interactive catalog for publishers.It complements Above the Treeline’s traditional product of providing software that gives independent booksellers the same economies scales that major retailers enjoy. It also helps these little firms streamline their inventory and create other efficiencies.That software also works for the big boys, too. Above the Treeline hopes to nail down the rest of the medium- to -large-size book retailers this year. That should allow it to continue its growth.The nine-person firm, up one from the last time we checked in, is on track to hire one more person this summer and bring on a new intern. More hires could be on the horizon, too, if the company continues to grow.Source: John Rubin, president and CEO of Above the TreelineWriter: Jon Zemke