Independent book stores making a comeback

[kansaskyle]

Bookstores escape from jaws of irrelevance
bostonglobe.com - link

Not so long ago it looked as if they would become another victim of digital disruption. Then they engineered a remarkable comeback.

The article mentions Ryan Raffaelli is an associate professor at Harvard Business School, and he is working on a full study will come out next year. He attributes the resurgence of small book stores to what he calls the “three C’s” -
community, curation, and convening.

Interesting article, and good to see small book stores are on the rise!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by kansaskyle

Bookstores escape from jaws of irrelevance
bostonglobe.com - link



The article mentions Ryan Raffaelli is an associate professor at Harvard Business School, and he is working on a full study will come out next year. He attributes the resurgence of small book stores to what he calls the “three C’s” -
community, curation, and convening.

Interesting article, and good to see small book stores are on the rise!

I tried to read the article but didn't want to sign up or connect with Facebook.

I read these stories and in general think they are written by people who never leave New York.

Out in the Houston suburbs where I live, there's Barnes and Noble, Fat Ogre Comics and Games and a few used book stores (fewer than there used to be).

I'm all for indie book stores, but I think stories about their rise is about as true as the stories about the fall of e-books.

[Deskisamess]

You can just close the pop-up window and read the article.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

You can just close the pop-up window and read the article.

At lease for me, there was no X to close the pop-up and no 'not right now' link that I could see. Clicking the link a second time, the pop-up went away.

My point still stands. I'm happy there are areas like Martha's Vineyard that can support indie bookshops, but I suspect they will be a coastal, college town phenomenon.

[Deskisamess]

I know towns like Louisville KY have many indie shops, bookstores included. But it is intentional focus of the city to support indie shops, cafes, etc. Many still don't survive past a few years. One of the book stores that has thrived since the late 1990's is still only open 25 hours per week, and they specialize in rare and hard to find books, and Civil War books.

But what works in a city like that won't work in the city I live in. We haven't had any indie bookstores for at least 15 years. We had a Borders which closed a few years ago, and now there is a Book's a Million that I've never been in.

[pwalker8]

I don't know that it's a purely coastal, college town phenomenon, but yes, you do need a big enough potential customer base to make it work. Basically, to be successful you need a customer community, so yes, it's very much a niche thing. Really, if you think about it, an indie store has to solve a problem that their customers have. It could be things like bringing together a community, providing book recommendations or any number of things.

From a business point of view, you need a location that is easily accessed by your target customer base and you need to be able to control your costs since it's a low margin business. Having multiple potential income streams is a big plus as well.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I tried to read the article but didn't want to sign up or connect with Facebook.

I read these stories and in general think they are written by people who never leave New York.

Out in the Houston suburbs where I live, there's Barnes and Noble, Fat Ogre Comics and Games and a few used book stores (fewer than there used to be).

I'm all for indie book stores, but I think stories about their rise is about as true as the stories about the fall of e-books.

Please share. Note: we have one used bookstore in our town.

As to your comment about the article: that does seem to be the case most of the time. Except in this case: it appears to be Boston.

Either that or the authors still live at home and have no concept of money.
Rather like Costco is $60 yearly but Amazon Prime is free. (Actually in an article).

[Larla]

Don't forget Murder by the Book -- it's not in the Houston suburbs but close enough to Katy that I used to go there a lot until I opted all in for e-books.