A terrible loss - the independent bookseller.

[herbivore12]

I just learned that one of my favorite bookstores is closing:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... IOVET1.DTL

This on top of losing another one in San Francisco, as noted at the end of the article (A Clean, Well-Lighted Place for Books, for those who knew it).

I know that most here aren't directly affected by these particular stores closing, but I'm seeing fewer and fewer indie bookstores, which usually have knowledgable booksellers and which were open late and had frequent author signings and stocked interesting books even when they weren't big sellers.

They're replaced by megastores like Borders, which are staffed (often) by folks who often do not know books or authors, so can't give advice on titles to look into, which stock only books already known to sell well, and which close at 9:00 or 10:00. This makes me sad.

Maybe I'm just getting old.

I also just discovered that the local bookstore in my town can no longer carry magazines, because the distributors refuse to sell to small accounts around here. Hey, good luck competing, little guys!

Not that I'm getting cynical, or anything.

[Jack]

You're not just getting old. It makes me sad too.

[Cynth]

Well, we're getting old I suppose. But I have to say one thing. For quite a while in some places I lived there were no independent book stores and just those unspeakably horrid little Danielle Steele outlet B. Dalton's in shopping malls. So for me Borders and Barnes & Noble have been an improvement over that.

However, both Borders and Barnes & Nobel in Des Moines seem to me to have gone downhill in the past few years. They devote much more space to calendars and gifts than they used to. This can only be because these things are selling better. They don't even bother with having interesting window displays. I don't seem to be running across as many interesting books that I would never have thought of looking for like I used to. I do think that each of these stores did have a manager who picked out what they were going to sell at one time---and that's why you could come across some really odd interesting things. I feel as though something has changed there. I wonder if it is because people are buying books over the Internet? The people working in the stores seem very helpful, I have no complaints there.

I do agree though, there is definitely nothing better than an independent bookstore run by someone who knows what is there and who knows the book scene in general. I'm truly sorry one of your favorite bookstores is closing. That is a tragedy.

[Jack]

They devote much more space to calendars and gifts than they used to.

That hurts my feelings.

One time in Lexington I went into a calendar store. It was so bizarre. Nothing but calendars everywhere.

CALENDARS ARE NOT BOOKS! Excuse me for screaming, but I'm sure you'll appreciate the sentiment...calendars are anti-books.

[djm]

Aren't you lucky there's an intenet, where you can search through thousands and thousands of books by subject, author, publisher, whatever. Even when I go to one of our local big box bookstores (Chapters) they have computers so I can go on-line and order anything they don't stock in the store. This doesn't necessarily mean that every book possible is available, but it really expands my reach over what a tiny book store could ever do for me. Between that and Amazon I have more books than I could possibly read at my fingertips.

djm

[Dale]

I have a small independent bookstore near in my neighborhood and I know the owner and I pop in occasionally and buy a book. To be honest, it's mostly out of a sense of wanting to do a small part to keep my friend in business. But, that's about it.

I now buy 90% of my books through amazon.com and, of those, probably 2/3 are actually those used ones--or even new ones--that come from individuals and other booksellers. I read fairly obscure stuff, and so the only real appeal of the bookstore for me is going in to browse.

I don't like the idea of smaller shops of any kind being swallowed up by the big corporations. I wish we still had smaller office supply stores, hardware stores, bookstores, record stores, etc. in great numbers. But, I fear those days have largely passed. Only the ones who figure out a niche for themselves will survive. My local bookstore, for example, holds a lot of specialized events...meetings for mystery lovers, signings by local authors, etc.

[Jack]

I have a small independent bookstore near in my neighborhood and I know the owner and I pop in occasionally and buy a book. To be honest, it's mostly out of a sense of wanting to do a small part to keep my friend in business. But, that's about it.

I now buy 90% of my books through amazon.com and, of those, probably 2/3 are actually those used ones--or even new ones--that come from individuals and other booksellers. I read fairly obscure stuff, and so the only real appeal of the bookstore for me is going in to browse.

I don't like the idea of smaller shops of any kind being swallowed up by the big corporations. I wish we still had smaller office supply stores, hardware stores, bookstores, record stores, etc. in great numbers. But, I fear those days have largely passed. Only the ones who figure out a niche for themselves will survive. My local bookstore, for example, holds a lot of specialized events...meetings for mystery lovers, signings by local authors, etc.

Mine does too. Mine uses volunteers and the two owners are an older, well-established local Quaker couple who are known as being a bit "out there" shall we say, and they have contests such as "cutest dog in the world" and other random things to keep it active. You're allowed to go in their store and sit in a chair and read all day long if you want to. I am, at least. And I do it often.

The only thing I don't like about the store is that (GASP!) they don't sell bookmarks!

[emmline]

I now buy 90% of my books through amazon.com and, of those, probably 2/3 are actually those used ones--or even new ones--that come from individuals and other booksellers.

Me too. It's a matter of time and money.
The Barnes & Noble near us isn't half bad though. I don't like the Borders. It's in a mall and is too busy and chaotic.
There's a phenomenal independant (and big) bookstore in Seattle's Pioneer Square. Can't remember the name. Great place.

[jsluder]

There's a phenomenal independant (and big) bookstore in Seattle's Pioneer Square. Can't remember the name. Great place.

You're probably thinking of the Elliot Bay Book Company.

[Cynth]

Aren't you lucky there's an intenet, where you can search through thousands and thousands of books by subject, author, publisher, whatever. Even when I go to one of our local big box bookstores (Chapters) they have computers so I can go on-line and order anything they don't stock in the store. This doesn't necessarily mean that every book possible is available, but it really expands my reach over what a tiny book store could ever do for me. Between that and Amazon I have more books than I could possibly read at my fingertips.

djm

Oh, I definitely buy quite a few books over the Internet. What is sad though is that I sort of have to do that, yet I am decreasing my chances of getting to browse in a bookstore. I can't browse on amazon the same way, although maybe I could learn to. But in a book store I could end up in some crazy section I'd never normally go to and find some great book. And that just doesn't happen on the computer for me. I'm not knocking the Internet companies, even though I could order books before, but it is much easier on the Internet. I think things are just changing. I wish I could have both, but I think probably I can't. At least where I live.

I don't have anything against a reasonable number of calendars, but the sections have expanded so that they fill up a very large space that could hold a lot of books. But I think they do it because those calendars sell.

[Charlene]

If people didn't buy new books at B. Daltons, Borders, etc., (including WalMart and Costco), then no one would bring in those new books to trade at my husband's used book store. If we didn't have newer books for sale and trade in our store, people would quit coming in, and we would be out of business. So I'm glad somebody buys new and then trades them in while they are still in demand.

We do have a web page but we can't list a lot on there because we usually just have one or two of each title. We do sell through Amazon. But mostly people come in and either trade their good used paperbacks in for 70% of the cover price, then take out other books. When they take books out we take the full cover price off their credit, then also charge 35 cents per book. Or the books are for sale at half the cover price.

If you're ever in Spokane, stop in at Cal's Books. PM me for the address and more details.

[Jack]

If people didn't buy new books at B. Daltons, Borders, etc., (including WalMart and Costco), then no one would bring in those new books to trade at my husband's used book store. If we didn't have newer books for sale and trade in our store, people would quit coming in, and we would be out of business. So I'm glad somebody buys new and then trades them in while they are still in demand.

We do have a web page but we can't list a lot on there because we usually just have one or two of each title. We do sell through Amazon. But mostly people come in and either trade their good used paperbacks in for 70% of the cover price, then take out other books. When they take books out we take the full cover price off their credit, then also charge 35 cents per book. Or the books are for sale at half the cover price.

If you're ever in Spokane, stop in at Cal's Books. PM me for the address and more details.

What is your store name on Amazon.com again? I used to have it, I think it's the same (Cals Books?). In fact, I bought a book from there a while ago, while living nearer to the east coast and it got from WA to WV in 3 days. I was very happy (and no, nobody paid me or asked me to say this, I mean it).

[carrie]

I actually just researched this a bit for some writing I did on an economics textbook and have these tidbits to share.

• *In 1991, independent booksellers accounted for more than 30% of all US book sales. By 2005, their share had dropped to less than 15%, and between 1995 and 2005, 1,200 independent booksellers went out of business.
  
  *In 2004 Amazon took in $134 million a week.
  
  *One of my friends in publishing feels the superstores represent a privatization of libraries.

Hi, Aaron, btw! Nice to "see" you!

Carol

[herbivore12]

Re: Amazon and web-based services in general: yep, they're useful, and good to have.

But I've found several of my favorite authors, and a couple of really fine books, because a knowledgable bookseller recommended them to me. "Oh! If you like this one, you should look at [insert title/author here]" That has never, ever happened to me in a mega-store, nor on the web. If you know what you're looking for, the web is great. If you value the insight of real people, which the web has yet to duplicate (to my satisfaction, anyway), then something's lost.

And my local Borders very rarely hosts authors, whereas the indie bookstores do/did. I worry a little for the writer of the non-bestseller if the indie bookstores disappear, too, since word-of-mouth and small-bookstore recommendations are their bread and butter.

No store is perfect. But I still think something's lost when we lose these little stores. And I wonder whether the little books I treasure -- by poets, short story writers, essayists -- will suffer, when there are fewer professionals left to champion them.

I hope not. I dunno.

(Hi, Carol! Good to see you, too. I'll try to catch up, soon.)

[fel bautista]

My$0.02;two stores that should never go out of business: independent book stores and mom and pop bike stores.