"Without even a scintilla of value-add" ? Brick and mortar bookstores add value. They just add it to the process rather than the final product. They shelve t

"Without even a scintilla of value-add" ? Brick and mortar bookstores add value. They just add it to the process rather than the final product. They shelve the book for an indeterminate amount of time, just on the chance little old you happens to come along and buy it. (Instant gratification has value: for the next three days you will have your book instead of waiting for shipping.) A retail store also provides a different and arguably superior browsing experience through multiple books: you get pre-sale access to 100% of the content. There's also the magazine section. Try finding a website that lets you browse through all of Forbes, Cigar Aficionado, and National Geographic. The bookstores have created a profitable model that doesn't work online, making magazines free-to-read in order to sell coffee. Sure, if you are laser targeted on what you want, and either don't mind the shipping wait or consume only e-book content, Amazon is far superior. But there is a real place for the brick and mortar store. They're not just anachronistic dinosaurs, they fill a still-extant niche of the capitalist market.