Quote:
Originally Posted by stonetools
A person came in, read many recommendation tags, and talked to a bookseller for a while to get further recommendations. Nothing surprising there. Happens every day. That is why people come here. But she was writing down the titles, not picking up the books. At one point, she made reference to her Kindle and it became clear that she was making a list to order from amazon.com as ebooks.
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That's exactly what I do at my local Chapters store (atlhough I don't go as far as talking to a staff member for recommendations - that's maybe a bit too far). For new releases and best sellers, it is much easier to browse in the store, flip through the books, and get a sense of what's out there. Chapters also does nice displays of books along particular themes.
Since I then go on to purchase my books from Kobo (which is owned by Chapters), I don't feel particularly bad about this.
But then, I would also go back to that same store when I want to puchase magazines, cookbooks, photography books, gifts for people, bargain books, etc.
But given how much space Chapters has started turning over to gifts and other mechandising, then I think they recognise that books aren't going to be their sole income and are trying other things to bring people in.