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by hullo 102 days ago
This is a good example of something that sounds true but is actually not. Private equity put Borders out of business (famously). Barnes & Noble is now private but by all reports (still) doing fine. There are more independent bookstores today (in more towns) than ever before.
3 comments
SoftTalker 101 days ago
Sounds true because (at least in some cases) it is. All the books I've bought in the past 20 years have been online, mostly from Amazon. When I was a kid my town had at least six bookstores that I can remember. Barnes and Noble and Borders came and they were fantastic but caused all the locals to close up within a decade. Then Borders closed and a few years later Barnes and Noble was gone. I go there today and there aren't any bookstores. Nobody thinks a bookstore in a small town is a viable business in the Amazon era, so none have been opened.

Big cities I'm sure still have some, they have enough population to support them even if most people don't patronize them.

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rincebrain 101 days ago
I'm always surprised when I see B&N stores.

I see a fair number of them, scattered around, not even in ultra-populated areas, but the last 3 or 4 times I've stopped in to try and buy things for e.g. holiday gifts, they've had none of the things I was looking for in stock, and they always seem empty.

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hedora 102 days ago
Some of the ones in the Bay Area were quietly acquired by Barnes & Noble in the last 12 months.

I hope that's not a national trend, but I suspect it is.

On top of that, Barnes & Noble is closing their larger locations, and replacing them with tiny ones that simply aren't compelling if you're looking for something specific.

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mistrial9 102 days ago
people give books away here in California with "tiny house" library stands. In a major college town, previously full of specialty and trade bookstores, now very empty.
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schlauerfox 100 days ago
It's a community called "Little Free Library" or imitators. they're all over my nighboorhood. https://littlefreelibrary.org/
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PaulHoule 100 days ago
These are common in Tompkins County New York but I've seen them in Montreal and Philadelphia
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