Quote:
Originally Posted by Ansileran
@HarryT:
Supermarket would never sell anything but best-sellers. There are many types of books that are sold and could still be sold by small independant bookstores. They would just have to re-think their offer. Also, the point of small bookstores is that they are conveniently situated (or specialized but if that's the case, they don't compete with supermarkets). Supermarket can't compete with that...
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You're right - the supermarkets do indeed only sell "bestsellers". However, it's the bestsellers that form the bulk of any bookshop's sales, and if the supermarkets take those sales away from the independent bookshop by selling at prices that they can't match, the end result is that the bookshop can't stay in business (unless they're a specialist in some area, perhaps).
That's what's happened in the UK in the years since the "net book agreement" - fixed book pricing - was abolished in 1995. The overwhelming majority of independent bookshops have gone out of business, or been taken over by Waterstones, the big retail chain which dominates here.
For people for buy on the Internet that's not a problem - Amazon have great prices and a great selection - but if you want to buy books in a physical bookshop, your choice is now far more restricted than it was 20 years ago.