Audio interview with Heather Reisman of Chapters-Indigo

[taming]

Look at the far right, toward the bottom:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/index.html

This interview is long, but worth listening to if you want a perspective from the CEO of a Big Box chain of bookstores. Reisman runs Chapters-Indigo in Canada, but I'm guessing that what she has to say applies to other chains in other countries.

Toward the end there is a discussion of the decision to sell Kobo to Raskuten.

[GA Russell]

taming, I gather that she is even more unpopular in Canada than politicians. Correct?

[taming]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

taming, I gather that she is even more unpopular in Canada than politicians. Correct?

I'm guessing that most Canadians don't have any opinion at all about her.

[Cdesja5]

Originally Posted by taming

I'm guessing that most Canadians don't have any opinion at all about her.

Correct...

[taming]

It was an interesting interview--definitely NOT a fluff piece. There were parts in which Riesman clearly squirmed, but also parts where she seemed to be very much honest and forthright, especially when talking about the inevitability of change in every industry.

It really is worth listening to.

[rkomar]

For me, the disquieting part is the trend away from browsing in stacks to curated, smaller selections. As Reisman said, the customers are voting with their wallets for that change. I don't blame the merchants for following, but I'm saddened over the streamlining of material. Will publishers be able to continue to publish their wide selections of titles without shelf space for them? Maybe E-books will help in that regard.

[BeccaPrice]

could someone please summarize some of her points for me? I have metered internet, and listening to this would pretty much use my daily allotment. thank you!

[taming]

I don't know how big the audio file is, Becca, but I am not going to be able to create a summary of the 30 minutes. I checked and there is no transcript.

[BeccaPrice]

I wasn't looking for a full summary, just some of the high points - but I do see your point.

Trust me, the audio file is too big for my bandwidth allotment.

[GA Russell]

It says here that Heather Reisman is a Bilderberger, along with Henry Kissinger and John Kerry.

http://www.infowars.com/bilderberg-2...-participants/

[Arithonne]

Originally Posted by rkomar

For me, the disquieting part is the trend away from browsing in stacks to curated, smaller selections. As Reisman said, the customers are voting with their wallets for that change. I don't blame the merchants for following, but I'm saddened over the streamlining of material. Will publishers be able to continue to publish their wide selections of titles without shelf space for them? Maybe E-books will help in that regard.

But who is really driving that trend? Part of what made switching to ebooks so easy for me was that I was browsing the store shelves and not finding books I wanted to buy. If my book discovery is done through review blogs and recommendations from friends and family instead of from browsing store shelves, and to buy the book I have to order it online instead of being able to pick it up in store, then I might as well get all the convenience of ebooks.

I don't think that browsing in stacks and curated selections are necessarily mutually exclusive. When huge chunks of a given genre's shelf space are given over to small number of book from a few big name authors, it's hard for a heavy reader of that genre to find things to buy. It all comes down to which customers the book stores (and by extension the publishers, too) want to cater to. As far as I'm concerned, they stopped catering to me and other readers like me a long time ago.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Arithonne

But who is really driving that trend? Part of what made switching to ebooks so easy for me was that I was browsing the store shelves and not finding books I wanted to buy. If my book discovery is done through review blogs and recommendations from friends and family instead of from browsing store shelves, and to buy the book I have to order it online instead of being able to pick it up in store, then I might as well get all the convenience of ebooks.

I don't think that browsing in stacks and curated selections are necessarily mutually exclusive. When huge chunks of a given genre's shelf space are given over to small number of book from a few big name authors, it's hard for a heavy reader of that genre to find things to buy. It all comes down to which customers the book stores (and by extension the publishers, too) want to cater to. As far as I'm concerned, they stopped catering to me and other readers like me a long time ago.

This is only a guess on my part, but I think the number of people who browse the stacks and make large numbers of purchases is down from what it used to be. I don't blame those who buy the books on the front tables for the change in the way book stores work, I blame the lack of those who used to shop in the stacks. The stores are turning to the best market they have left.

Perhaps my best evidence of a downturn in reading is that used book stores are also doing less business (at least the ones I visit from time to time). They still have their (curated) diverse selections, but fewer people are buying. Reading just isn't as popular as it once was. Thank goodness that e-books (and AbeBooks) are making it easier to find what's harder to get in the brick-and-mortar shops.