In a shakeout inducing shivers to rival a suspense novel, one local independent bookseller after another is closing up shop... "We have lost a lot of regular customers to the e-book revolution," said owner Charlie Leonard.
Booksellers are calling the shift a "Gutenberg moment" for the entire publishing industry, likening it to Johannes Gutenberg's game-changing invention of movable type almost 600 years ago.
E-books aren't the only adversary, of course; people are buying fewer books in general. Still, dusting bookshelves in the digital age is starting to feel a bit quaint...
Lately, she said, more customers are browsing to decide which books to download at home. "We're really now a showroom for books.''
The number of independent bookstores has been declining for some time, from about 6,000 in the early 1990s to about 2,200 today, according to the American Booksellers Association...
"I used to have Boy Scouts who would go to garage sales and buy a book for 50 cents and sell it to me for $2," Cummings said. "They don't need me anymore. They can do it themselves" online.
13 December 2010
Are bookstores becoming "showrooms for books" ??
A report in the StarTribune details the declining number of independent bookstores in the Twin Cities:
Sounds hyped to me. I suspect "more customers" means two (i.e. some booksellers can remember more than one). I'm sure it will be a while before e-books gain any significant level of popularity.
ReplyDeleteI would have thought that local bookstores were falling to bigger chain bookstores and online shops rather than to e-books.
ReplyDeleteI used to buy from smaller local bookstores because they were cheaper but shopping online now gives me the greatest variety and price. Sometimes I'd buy from bigger chain stores because they frequently have sales and if it's an obscure book that they don't have, they can get it in faster than local stores can.
I'm not sure how e-books are eating into book sales, but I certainly won't be converting any time soon. I spend enough time staring at a screen so when I want to relax with a novel, I very much prefer it on paper.
I live in Salem, MA where there's a tiny bookstore called Derby Square Books. It's awesome. There are literally stacks of books taller than you and you never know what you're going to find! But the best part: everything's half off. Except when you need to order something, which means it's only 20% off. I was speaking to the owner who summed it up best when i asked him about another bookseller who'd gone out of business, "That's 18 stores vanquished!", he said, "Nobody get's it, people don't pay full price for books anymore."
ReplyDeleteI don't buy many books, as I have more books than I have room for in my house. I visit the library at least every two weeks, however. I agree with Jojo: ebooks don't tempt me at all. I profoundly hope that printed books and printed newspapers outlive me!
ReplyDeleteI dunno, books are extremely expensive and take up too much room. As much as I love reading a real book, its just a luxury I think that most cannot afford monetarily AND due to the increasing nomadic life-style (moving from place to place).
ReplyDeleteBoth books and e-books have their advantages. I mostly read e-books because all I have to carry is a small tablet and can have my whole library, on the other hand I like books because of their physicality and permanency. E-books can be erased forever just like that but a book will stay on your shelf for as long as you keep it up.
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