4 ms·

This reminds me of smaller bookstores prior to the era of Borders and Barnes and Noble dominance. pours one out

legitster 4y ago
Smaller bookstores are actually doing pretty okay these days: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/02/18/indie-bookstores-comeback https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/02/18/indie-bookstores-com... Mostly because Amazon decimated corporate chains, which freed up more market for independent stores.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Though independents are still a pretty niche business. Around where I am there are certainly far fewer of them than there were before the big chains became dominant.
  - legitster 4y ago
    I don't know. I'm in a pretty redneck county and even here there are dozen independent bookstores. Most of them are tied to a coffeeshop though. But if you check your local map you might be surprised.
    - pessimizer 4y ago
      Even the article said there were 10-15 bookstores in a place that had 35 of them in the 70s.
bluedino 4y ago
How are they still in business, by the way? It seemed like they were just a Starbucks location with a ton of overhead, I thought we'd seen the last of them when pandemic shut everything down. I loved B&N by the way, more computer-related books than WaldenBooks, but not as many as Borders.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Because "Starbucks with overhead" is a surprisingly effective business model apparently; though if you go into one you'll notice that there are a lot more chotchkeys for sale near the front of the store (even LEGO lol).
- munificent 4y ago
  > How are they still in business, by the way? They've broadened out into being general "gift stores". My local Barnes and Noble has a large toys section (mostly LEGO and educational stuff), board games, puzzles, music (lots of vinyl), stationery (fancy journals). It's essentially "stuff introverts like" in a nice space.
- jabroni_salad 4y ago
  Around the time of the pandemic they implemented a strategic change to have local management arrange the store rather than auctioning shelf placement to publishers like most other retailers do. This has actually made B&N pretty nice to browse compared to a few years ago.

Smaller bookstores are actually doing pretty okay these days: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/02/18/indie-bookstores-comeback https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/02/18/indie-bookstores-com... Mostly because Amazon decimated corporate chains, which freed up more market for independent stores.

ghaff 4y ago
Though independents are still a pretty niche business. Around where I am there are certainly far fewer of them than there were before the big chains became dominant.
- legitster 4y ago
  I don't know. I'm in a pretty redneck county and even here there are dozen independent bookstores. Most of them are tied to a coffeeshop though. But if you check your local map you might be surprised.
  - pessimizer 4y ago
    Even the article said there were 10-15 bookstores in a place that had 35 of them in the 70s.

bluedino 4y ago

How are they still in business, by the way? It seemed like they were just a Starbucks location with a ton of overhead, I thought we'd seen the last of them when pandemic shut everything down. I loved B&N by the way, more computer-related books than WaldenBooks, but not as many as Borders.

bombcar 4y ago
Because "Starbucks with overhead" is a surprisingly effective business model apparently; though if you go into one you'll notice that there are a lot more chotchkeys for sale near the front of the store (even LEGO lol).
munificent 4y ago
> How are they still in business, by the way? They've broadened out into being general "gift stores". My local Barnes and Noble has a large toys section (mostly LEGO and educational stuff), board games, puzzles, music (lots of vinyl), stationery (fancy journals). It's essentially "stuff introverts like" in a nice space.
jabroni_salad 4y ago
Around the time of the pandemic they implemented a strategic change to have local management arrange the store rather than auctioning shelf placement to publishers like most other retailers do. This has actually made B&N pretty nice to browse compared to a few years ago.