http://www.thestar.com/entertainment...ifferent-story
Quote:
BakkaPhoenix, the country’s oldest science fiction and fantasy bookstore, faces many of the same challenges confronting Toronto’s other independent booksellers.
Chiefly, these include the migration of customers to big-box outlets and online retailers, where discounts abound, as well as what further erosion of business the emerging e-book market will bring.
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Quote:
“One of the things we were looking for was space for our community,” says Chris Szego, who has managed the store for the past decade. “We already have had science-fiction book clubs approach us to see if they can hold their meetings there.
“We want to schedule writing an reading workshops. That’s something independent bookstores can be great at. We offer community.”
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Smart adaptation to the times-community is still important, whether books are paper or digital. The question is whether virtual community (i.e. Mobileread, etc.) will trump physical community, as virtual bookstores trump physical ones.