On Sat, Jul 23, 2011 at 1:39 PM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'd like to see the return of independent bookstores as targeted niche > businesses. The reason it's not going to happen is that anybody > looking to open up such a store will find that publishers don't care > about making small stores sustainable and a new store owner will find > herself in competition with online based and used book businesses, > both of which sell books for less than she will be charged by > publishers. > > There is not an even spread of book buying behavior. There is a small > number of power readers who buy many books each year, a fair sized > number who buy a few books, and the vast majority who buy at most one > or two. Power readers drive the market and they are a target market > for ereaders. They're the ones with the practical incentive to buy > them (others may buy them to keep up to date with technology), but > it's the power readers who save money by downloading their books. > This is a good point - I have often day dreamed about opening a book store when I retire (not going to happen) and have talked to a lot of small bookstore owners. The model you describe above always seems so whacky to me, and does make it tough. There are places where independent book sellers can thrive. We still have one in my area. She had been in a large space 15 years ago on main street when the first B&N opened up 20 miles away. Within 6 months she was on the brink of going under, so she made some pretty smart changes - she moved to a smaller space on the same block, went with a pretty canny mix of used books, bestsellers and niche trade books, and highlighted her personal, customized service (old ladies will call her up and say they want to read a particular kind of book, she will recommend something, then order it for them, call them when it comes in. When it does they amble down to her store, shoot the fat for a while, talk about that last book she recommended, and pay up). She may have some other source of income, but she seems to be making the shop pay for itself, and a number of locals try to patronize her as much as possible (these days if I am going to buy an actual book at an actual store, I will get it from her even if it costs a little more. But I won't buy from her instead of amazon). But since I went Kindle it is true that I have been in there less (now I am feeling guilty, I may have to go down there this week and buy something). A larger independent bookstore, long established on the corner across the street from where that B&N opened up 15 years ago, also found a way to survive - instead of going smaller, they got bigger, brought in their own coffee shop, used book and record operation, and seem to survive going toe to toe with B&N. So, I guess I am happy that these two independent operators have one less corporate competitor to worry about, though of course they still face a very tough competitive environment. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
