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This depresses me. One of the reasons I don't like B&N is because I feel it's a store no longer dedicated to books. They have books, but it's also a gift store
by mykowebhn 7y ago
This depresses me.
One of the reasons I don't like B&N is because I feel it's a store no longer dedicated to books. They have books, but it's also a gift store, a toy store, and a stationery store. From just my estimate, I feel about 40 percent of its floor-space is for non-book items.
Another book chain in Canada, Indigo Books, operates similarly.
I think the last bastions for book-lovers are used bookstores. Also, Powell's in Portland seems quite dedicated to selling books of all sorts.
- idoescompooters 7y agoYeah the added gifts (wine, chocolates, etc.) was actually their tactic to grab youth as a final effort before going down.
- paulcole 7y agoPowell’s is more of a tourist destination. Buy a mug, tote bag, shirt and 3 hardbacks you’ll probably never even read. Plus they’ve made some pretty poor financial decisions. Had to scrap renovating and expanding into a nearby building. Lots of layoffs. If they didn’t own their building they’d be long gone.
- selimthegrim 7y agoI did hear some rumbles about how their nonunion employees were mad at conditions. I am sad their technical bookstore went the way of the dodo.
- paulcole 7y agoYeah I used to live a few blocks from Powell's Technical about 10 years ago. What a place.
- wishinghand 7y agoWhat was great about it?
- paulcole 7y agoFor someone who grew up in the middle of nowhere Florida, being able to walk somewhere that had not just a book or 2 on any technical topic imaginable but 2 SHELVES full was amazing.
- selimthegrim 7y agoI bought my graduate physics textbooks there
- tmaly 7y agoTheir technical bookshop was awesome. I remember spending many hours there in the late 90s
- neodypsis 7y agoI once went to Dussmann in Berlin (https://www.kulturkaufhaus.de https://www.kulturkaufhaus.de). IMO, this is what a modern bookstore should be like.
- kashyapc 7y agoC'mon, that's too high a bar. I was there a few months ago (went twice in a week and spent some non-trivial time). While, Dussman has unparalleled selection of books (it's a 4-storied bookstore after all), they are also a gargantuan gift store (the 5th floor, and throughout the other floors). They have a dizzying array of expensive crap to lure consumers. I was there in November, and by Jove, was it teeming with shoppers. That said, I still loved the incredible bookstore, and the co-located English store. Not to mention the huge vertical garden, with some 600 plant species. Definitely worth visiting, whether you're a bibliophile, or not.
- NetOpWibby 7y agoWow that sounds amazing.
- Xylakant 7y agoNotably they don’t consider themselves a bookstore. Their claim is “kulturkaufhaus” which roughly translates to “culture shopping center.” They have a large section of DVDs, Music and other stuff. Their comic book section is pitifully small, though.
- kashyapc 7y agoTrue, that's indeed the word I was looking for, "kulturkaufhaus". (I was trying to recall the exact word, and didn't bother to look up. Thanks.)
- tannhaeuser 7y agoI like the Soviet-style Karl-Marx-Buchhandlung better if it's still around (it was featured as a location in The lifes of others I believe).
- drivers99 7y agoThey also hollowed out the center of the store to create a Nook store-within-a-store, at least in most locations I know of. A major independent store in Denver, Tattered Cover, dropped from being spread across 2 large floors down to 1 smaller floor, and I heard the once had 3 floors of the building they’re in. They seem to have focused on keeping the best books in stock though, subjectively speaking. But a decent part of that space is also coffee shop, periodicals, etc as well. I think they also lost any space for authors to come do readings.
- Axsuul 7y agoA must is Tsutaya in Daikanyama (Tokyo). I could spend days in there. https://store.tsite.jp/daikanyama/english/ https://store.tsite.jp/daikanyama/english/