Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
My wife recently gave me a $25 gift certificate to Borders, no doubt hoping I'd go away and quit pestering her. So off I went and at first I figured I'd buy a book but, frankly, my library of classics is pretty full and everything else is easier to read on Kindle. So then I thought, well, I'll get some CD's for my car, but the CD section has been decimated due to IPods which, come to think of it, I can use in my car anyway. So finally, I figured maybe I could add some DVD's to my collection. But frankly, it's easier to Netflix them for the most part - plus the DVD section has also been hammered by all the other easy delivery systems for movies.
Took me several trips to find two books I wanted in dead tree editions - Public Enemies by Bryan Burroughs, because the photographs don't come out well on Kindle and House of the Dead by Dostoevsky because... well, you gotta have a hard copy of the Dos-man. And I still have four bucks on the card.
How long can bookstores last if a culture lover can't figure out a way to spend 25 bucks in one?
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
Well, they have magazines, coffee, maps, toys, and greeting cards.....
Seriously, I am halfway through the English language (not French) version of Empire of Lies, and it is striking how well the scenario fits the average university situation in almost every respect.
And also how well this book would work as a Summer blockbuster movie starring Gary Sinise or Adam Baldwin. I wonder why conservatives never make movies like this?
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
Drew, bookstores are toast. Except the twee "independent" ones, which I love despite their near-uniform lefty vibe.
I got a similar gift card a few months ago for one of those big chain bookstores.
I used it to buy magazines.
Jun '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
Maybe four types of bookstores will survive: brick and mortar stores with standard (cheap) used books, brick and mortar specialty book stores (e.g. text books, art books, regional books, rare books,) online super stores (e.g. Amazon,) and online rare book dealers/auctioneers.
Jun '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
The Borders stores around here are full of people who mill around, pull books off shelves, flip pages, sit in the aisles reading. . . but never buy anything. A bookstore's main product is no longer books, but the experience of browsing - which Amazon, despite impressive recommendations software, cannot provide. I love bookstores for precisely that reason. But can you sell browsing?
Aug '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
I'd be all for spending money at bookstores, but they're so expensive. Primarily, I spend money on technical books for my line of work. I'll go into a big name bookstore hoping to pick up a new book that I need only to find that they are charging full cover price for the book (usually between $40-$50). I can just as easily go to Amazon, or some other online store, and purchase it for 30-40% less with free shipping. I just need to put up with waiting a couple days. Unless bookstores can compete with that, or they have a niche market they cater to, I don't see them lasting very long.
Aug '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
Technically, yes, the nightclub model: charge a nominal cover to get in. (I'll leave what you would be "browsing" for in a nightclub up to your imagination.) The real question is, although many people claim to love browsing, do they value it enough to actually pay for it?
Personally, the most I get out of bookstores was the random associations. Go to the science fiction section looking for a book, and you might see a couple of authors you forgot about or did not know about. But that has long since been replaced by Amazon's discovery process, as well as the blogosphere's doubling as a recommendation engine.
Jul '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
It will be a sad, sad day if physical books ever go the way of buggy whips. I like my Kindle well enough, but there is a sensual connection to a book that can't be replicated on an electronic device. A book has heft and warmth and even a tiny bit of scent. A book, left partly-read on a nightstand or a coffee table, calls one back in a way that a Kindle never does. A physical book in a bookshelf is a reminder of a time, a passion, a discovery. One looks at one's collection of books and feels gratitude and fulfillment in a way that would be impossible with a Kindle or an iPad.
And perhaps above all, a book is a wonderful gift; it says to the recipient, "Here, I want you to read this, to know this, because I respect you and your intellectual curiosity and I think you will share my delight in this." I can't imagine how that could be replicated by offering to buy a download onto somebody's Kindle.
May '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
I want to spend money in a bookstore like Borders but they a) either don't have what I want or b) even with the weekly discount coupon, charge a lot more than what I can get at The Book Depository or even at Amazon.
I keep asking myself... do they really want people to buy books from them or is the storefront just a cafe with lots of books and magazines?
Jul '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
Kenneth: It will be a sad, sad day if physical books ever go the way of buggy whips. I like my Kindle well enough, but there is a sensual connection to a book that can't be replicated on an electronic device. A book has heft and warmth and even a tiny bit of scent. A book, left partly-read on a nightstand or a coffee table, calls one back in a way that a Kindle never does. A physical book in a bookshelf is a reminder of a time, a passion, a discovery. One looks at one's collection of books and feels gratitude and fulfillment in a way that would be impossible with a Kindle or an iPad.
And perhaps above all, a book is a wonderful gift; it says to the recipient, "Here, I want you to read this, to know this, because I respect you and your intellectual curiosity and I think you will share my delight in this." I can't imagine how that could be replicated by offering to buy a download onto somebody's Kindle. · Aug 16 at 7:34pm
Books are also permanent. Once you buy one it's content remains intact.
May '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
Browsing is a lot more fun in used bookstores where the piles are everywhere and not particularly well-organized, and there are bins of ten cent paperbacks along one wall.
It is like trying to clean up stacks of 60 year old newspapers in your grandmother's basement- you never clean, you just stop and read everything.
Aug '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
You should know, how do your book sales break down ? Hard copy/paperback/ebook/kindle/audio ? Be interesting to see. As well the difference in the demographics. my 13 yr daughter is hooked on homelanders, how does those sale destinations differ from your work with an older demographic ? and if one has to have a hard copy of the "dos man", then what about the beethoven vinyls ? so the media differs in it's venue, car/chair/plane/living room/cabin etc. etc.
i stored the records, the eight tracks were stolen, the cassettes disintegrate, the cds used once or twice while downloading into itunes, the ipods go into the shelf, the iphones swallow everything. ( God, I hope Bradbury isn't right)
May '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
I just applied for a part time job @ a bookstore. Let's hope Andrew's wrong.
Jul '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
BlueAnt
Personally, the most I get out of bookstores was the random associations. Go to the science fiction section looking for a book, and you might see a couple of authors you forgot about or did not know about. But that has long since been replaced by Amazon's discovery process, as well as the blogosphere's doubling as a recommendation engine. · Aug 16 at 6:04pm
Not even close to the same.
Amazon's discovery process is awful, as is most of the blogosphere.
Jul '10
Re: Why The Big Bookstores Are Doomed
And, who of you have a Kindle for your 6 year old for him to pick up off the shelf and read and gaze at the pictures?
On this site, I'm guessing most...