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by reedx8 3049 days ago
I think your point about offering what your competitors are not is spot on: a hub that facilitates community and study, events with widely known authors and public figures, and so forth. Portland's Powells book store in the Pearl District nails this, with multiple stories of books that seemingly never end and centered right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. I hope B&N replicates this because I would hate to see them go and it's why any book I buy is only from one of these chains.
2 comments
paulcole 3049 days ago
I hate to rain on your parade but Powell’s isn’t exactly thriving. There were layoffs about 5 years ago and they’ve scrapped big renovation projects and even plans to move the main store because of revenue problems.
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DaveWalk 3049 days ago
I think this is a very important point; independent bookstores in general aren't "thriving" in the normal Wall St sense of the word. I wonder: is their whole resilience is due to more of a downshift in expectations? I.e., earn enough to make a living but not to expand? To give your employees a liveable wage but no healthcare?
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InclinedPlane 3049 days ago
Indeed. I live in an area (Seattle) that has multiple excellent local bookstores (specifically Third Place Books and Elliott Bay). What sets them apart is they have a good selection of books, they have an environment that is conducive to hanging out and reading (Third Place especially), they have lots of recommendations from staff and local book clubs, and they have regular events like book signings and author Q&As, etc. I just checked the closest B&N and they have one non-kids author event between now and the end of March, in contrast the local Third Place has 15, Elliott Bay has even more. Stepping into a B&N it just feels like a generic, lifeless experience, there is basically nothing to recommend it over simply buying a book online. But there's still money and life in selling books at retail, you just have to do it well.

(And yes, for the record Powells is a world class bookstore, every time I visit I always enjoy it and it's always packed.)

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