Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
I agree that most brick and mortar bookstores have seen better days, and people are leaving them for the convenience of online shopping. The neighborhood bookstores are going the way of the mom & pop corner grocery stores, but that doesn't mean I can't lament their passing. When I was a kid, I knew the names of the store owners where my mom would send me to buy bread, milk, and other staples of daily existence. Having 24-hour convenience stores every few blocks is much more suited to the way we live today, but don't ask me the names of any of the clerks. With the high turnover in employees, it makes little sense to bother with learning them. In like manner, it's much easier to go online whenever the mood strikes and browse for new reading material. But there's little chance of striking up a conversation in the process.
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I think niche stores with good service and quality will always have a following. I shop regularly at the vegetable store a block away and at the privately owned pharmacy. The prices are not always competitive and they are not one stop shopping, but I appreciate the convenience and the pharmacy will even deliver at no charge. I have never had them deliver, but if I was really needing something and could not get it myself, nice to know.
Privately owned bookstores have become fewer and will likely continue on becoming fewer, but so have most privately owned small stores. Most bookstores I have frequented in the last 30 years have been chain stores or franchises. Not by choice, but because that is what there was. Mom and pop grocery stores have given away to franchise stores, although these are for the most part privately owned. The owners pay a franchise fee and are only allowed to carry certain products purchased from head office, but in most cases they pay the rent and wages and manage the business, not 711 or Mac's milk, and are often just as nice to me as mom and pop ever were.
Helen