Quote:
Originally Posted by Mel
You have more bookstores within walking distance than the combined B&N/Borders presence in the state of Maine.
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I
said my experience wasn't generally applicable.
(Believe me, I am aware of how fortunate I am.)
Quote:
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Our local bookstore has a horrible selection. It tries to cover all the same ground as the big chains only with less space and buying power. It ends up with just the top sellers in each category. It seems to have less and less local focus the less competition it has. It almost seems like competition would take some of the strain of being everyone's bookstore off it and let it get some personality back.
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It might be nice if it had competition. It's trying to be everything because it is the local bookstore. Where is the closest alternative?
The problem with personality would be "Does it
sell?" Retailing is all about sales/sq.ft., so what it's doing is likely what it has to do to remain a going concern. Will they place special orders for stuff they don't have for you?
I've seen worse, though. Many years ago I was in Shreveport, LA for a couple of weeks. I found two bookstores. One was what looked like an interesting used book store that was never open when I could go by. The other was a combo card/gift/PB bookstore with a novel shelving practice: books were put in the racks in whatever order they came out of the boxes. It was pure random access. It left me wondering if anyone in Shreveport actually
read.
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Dennis