Quote:
Originally Posted by ProfCrash
I think that we will see the return of the independent bookstore in the next 10-20 years. As the big chains have to change their business model and start closing stores you will see the independent book store reopen to provide the DTB to the person who loves the DTB. I see them as similar to smaller record stores that have opened to sell the actual vynal (sp) album.
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This is an interesting point. I think someone is opening up a large-ish independent bookstore in Vancouver (Canada, yo!) on just this premise.
Sorry to say this, but I think the big-box bookstores have done some great things for bookselling, not the least of them being the notion that a cup of coffee can exist within the physical confines of a bookstore without destroying the entire stock, that it's okay to actually have children, etc. I know of one used bookstore that's become successful as a business by becoming the hub of its neighbourhood. (A friend of mine got married there!)
So maybe there's hope, because bookstores are really quite lovely.
A related (kind of) question: Why can't you get e-books in physical format? I can buy an album online, or buy it on a CD and rip it right to my computer/MP3 player/phone. How come I can't go into a bookstore, get my consumer juices flowing, look at books, and then decide to buy a digital edition loaded on a cheap memory card, stuck to an appealing piece of cardboard and hanging from a peg? This would be one way to revitalize the bookstore, IMO.