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Old 04-06-2011, 06:06 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by stonetools View Post
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.
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.
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Old 04-06-2011, 06:07 PM   #17
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Thank you for the mild profanity. But do your bosses know what you're saying? Or did they tell you to be "edgy"?

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Can you build a viable bookstore model around just these books?
Craft and how-to books might not work on an ebook reader, but they work as well or better on a computer than they do in physical form. How-to books online can come with videos, for example (one of the few good uses for that sort of 'enhancement') and for many things, it's handy to be able to see what the actual process in action. Certain craft books, such as those which involve patterns, make good PDFs because the patterns can be printed out at different scales for different needs. This isn't a big deal for, say, knitting, but if you want to do something like stenciling, a pattern that you can scale up for bigger areas or scale down for a tissue box cover or whatever stencilers decorate could be a major benefit.

As for coffee-table books, they'll last only as long as it takes us to get electronic coffee tables. The technology is available off-the-shelf now -- a high-res monitor under glass would work nicely -- and it's more a matter of mass production and public acceptance. "Cocktail table" arcade games have been around for decades, and it's really just an elaboration of the same thing.

Quote:
In the Washington DC area, the Politics and Prose Bookstore thrives as a kind of political discussion center.
How does it make a living? A political discussion center is great, but you can't pay the rent with a bag of opinions and a position or two.

I'm kind of pessimistic about this because, although I like bookstores -- I liked stationery stores, too -- I don't see much future for most of them. Just like stationery stores lost out to Staples, bookstores lost out to B&N, and those in turn are losing out to Amazon. Then someone will out-Amazon Amazon, and people will mourn the loss of their favorite website. So it goes.

And, in the end, it's all about what gives the people with the money (that would be us) more of what they want. In the recent past (say, post-Great-Depression) money has been not the most important measure of personal worth but the only measure. Honor, virtue, accomplishment, nothing means as much as money. A rich swindler is more admired than a poor saint. "If he's so good, how come he's poor?" People might say they want this or that or the other thing, and a few of them actually do (everyone gets what the majority deserves), but most of them just want to have more money or more material goods, and the way to have them is to seek out the lowest prices; compared to getting something cheap, nothing else seems to matter anymore.

So we get all the things that everyone claims to hate. But hey, we've got ... um, well, just the same wealth relative to each other, and a lot less than the top 2% ... well, at least we have Wal-Mart. Or walmart.com.
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Old 04-06-2011, 08:59 PM   #18
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The bookstore mentioned in the first post sells books at list price according to their website. How many people will but a HC for $26.95?

If they see someone writing down titles for purchase elsewhere, why don't they offer the customer an immediate discount? Better to earn less than lose potential sale.
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Old 04-06-2011, 11:34 PM   #19
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Maybe bookstores of the future will be someone just sitting there waiting for someone else to come by and ask for book recommendations? In exchange for a free lunch?

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Old 04-06-2011, 11:37 PM   #20
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No one mentioned "to use the bathrooms" yet?
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Old 04-07-2011, 12:07 AM   #21
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I think that the slack from retail bookstores could be re-picked-up by local used bookstores.

I'm sure if the local big box book retailers went out of business, local bookstores would surely at least pick up some stock of the biggest bestsellers for sale.

I like my local used bookstore a lot. It's still where a majority of my money goes to (I hate DRM'd ebooks and used product is much cheaper).

Just like Gamestop - most of its revenue is from used sales - but they still sell new product.
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Old 04-07-2011, 12:14 AM   #22
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Quote:
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I like my local used bookstore a lot. It's still where a majority of my money goes to (I hate DRM'd ebooks and used product is much cheaper).
Where are the used ebook stores, selling ebooks where the formatting is starting to unravel due to age or a page or two is missing?
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Old 04-07-2011, 03:36 AM   #23
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No one mentioned "to use the bathrooms" yet?
LOL


Regarding direction of bookstores... I think a key is atmosphere and location, and prices. The latter is probably harder to accomplish along with the first two, but they can try a bit.

The Barnes and Noble here seems to thrive. It's in the mall - at the main entrance, next to the theatre. People drop in and hang around to peruse, enjoy the cafe, and impulse buy a lot of things that aren't books. It's usually the place to meet someone if you're going to a movie.

The only thing they've not done so well, imo, is make the atmosphere as inviting as their other store about 10 miles south. It doesn't have as convenient location, but it's buzzing too. There, the ceilings are lower, the shelves are higher, and there are more deep, comfortable sofas and cubbies to settle in. i used to spend hours there every week, it was so much like a second home, and the longer I stayed, the higher my stack of take-home books got.

Of course, that was before I got an ereader. Now, I go in, peruse, but only books that I want to hold, like big, beautiful hardcovers. Children's books, and others with lots of pictures.

I also spend a lot on book gadgets - lights, holders, book-themed things, like frames, cups, and games for kids.

I guess my answer is - I'd make it like a very inviting library people are drawn to and no one wants to leave, give out free or very cheap coffee... warm service, etc. Any sour face gets fired, and give (don't make them fill out some long form) people cards they can have punched so for every 5 books or whatever, they get a discount on something, so they'll feel a connection and desire to come back.

They could also have a better computer system that not only lets you look up books but see reviews. The lack of that kept me from buying many books I came across in the store - I wanted to go home and check Amazon reviews first.
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Old 04-07-2011, 05:45 AM   #24
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meh, that struck me as rude :|
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Old 04-07-2011, 06:00 AM   #25
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Originally Posted by mr ploppy View Post
I don't get why someone would do that. "The internet" is going to have a lot more recommendations than some small shop, and you're more likely to find someone with similar if not the same tastes in fiction so their recommendations are more likely to be worth a gamble.
Yeah, even back in the bad old days when I had to visit book shops I knew exactly what I wanted to buy thanks to various forums and review websites. Why go all the way to a bookshop to get recommendations when you can do it more easily from the comfort of home?
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Old 04-07-2011, 06:01 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by tubemonkey View Post
Where are the used ebook stores, selling ebooks where the formatting is starting to unravel due to age or a page or two is missing?
There's lots of people selling used ebooks on Ebay, all in mint condition.
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Old 04-07-2011, 06:46 AM   #27
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Where are the used ebook stores, selling ebooks where the formatting is starting to unravel due to age or a page or two is missing?
How would you tell those from a lot of new ebooks? </snark>
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Old 04-07-2011, 08:09 AM   #28
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1) Taking up space
2) Jobs
3) Not having what you want
4) Looking pretty

Haven't been in a bookstore since I got my electronic reader, don't intend to go in one ever.
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Old 04-07-2011, 11:34 AM   #29
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I used to work at an independent bookstore "in the olden days" before the internet. One of the functions of our bookstore was to come up with the title of a book you had heard about but couldn't quite remember. We would get all the staff members together to brainstorm and we loved doing this.

When B&N opened right by Shakespeare & Co on the upper west side in NYC, a famous story went around. A customer went in to B&N with a usual request: "I heard about this book on NPR, what is it called?" The bookstore attendant couldn't come up with the name. She said, "why don't you go to Shakespeare & Co, ask them for the name of the book, and come back here and buy it at a discount?"

Well now you would just google for the book, Shakespeare & Co closed that location many years ago, and B&N is in trouble.

Now I live in a neighborhood that is famous for having a lot of kids. Our local B&N serves a different function: kids playspace. The nannies take the kids there, read a lot of books, leave them on the floor, and don't buy anything. I admit I have done this with my daughter many times, but we always make a point to put the books back where they came from, we often get a treat for her and a coffee for me in the cafe, and once in a while we buy a kids book or something else like greeting cards. My daughter LOVES the bookstore and I would be sad indeed if we didn't have it.

eP
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Old 04-07-2011, 02:02 PM   #30
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I'd guess that a good 40% of people now use bookshops and cd retailers to perform the same function as the lady in the OP. Admittedly, she was being far more brazen about it than most of us.
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