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Independent bookstore owners may be able to succeed, but the curmudgeonly bookstore owner is likely to fail. Berating owners of e-readers doesn't sell books. I don't think the phenomenon of people using bookstores - especially independent bookstores - as showrooms is nearly as widespread as people think. There is a confirmation bias at play. If someone walks into a store looks at items but doesn't buy anything, that doesn't mean they were using the store as a showroom and buying online. They might have had some time to kill, or might simply not have found a book they liked. In any case, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if they come in with an e-reader in their hand. If you treat every person who enters your store as if they are a potential customer, you'll sell a lot more books than if you treat people as the "enemy".
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