If you are one of the several (dozens? thousands? millions? oh, what the hell ...) who read my blog on a regular basis, you know that I have a special rant against big box book stores (including that virtual one, the one that shall not be mentioned, but the one that puts $$ into Rethuglican coffers and that it galls me so many Lefty blogs link to on a regular basis, and it starts with an "A" ... )
Anyway, where was I? My neighborhood was blessed with a little independently owned book store, Star Books. It had a great used book section, always had a large selection of Terry Pratchett books, and anything they didn't have in stock they could usually get within a week. I use the past tense, because I've been hearing rumors that they are going out of business. Today I biked past, and sure enough, the window has a big STORE CLOSING sign.
A lot of people I talk to don't seem to think it's any big deal. "They just didn't find their niche," is one comment I've heard. But what the hell does that mean? Isn't being a local neighborhood independently owned book store that can get anything you want a good enough "niche"? Isn't it the responsibility of the people who claim to care about such things, to support them when they're there? I think it is.
Anything that Crooks and Liars or Digby or Bob Harris or Tom Tomorrow sells through Amazon, can be purchased just as quickly and easily, usually over the phone, at your locally owned book store. Every dollar you spend is a vote. What kind of a world do you vote for?
Well, I'm grieving today.
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Independent bookstores go out of business regularly here, too. I'm not sure what the solution might be. It's probably nearly impossible for them to be compared with the large bookstores with high volume and lots of stock. Occasionally, I know I run into trouble trying to get something I want from the independents. They can't keep the stock.
Hm. Interesting though.
If you can't get it locally, you can almost always get it from Powells.com or abebooks.com. They are both independent.
Just once, I'd love to see a chain go out of business.
That is so sad, I'm so sorry Suzy. I have worked in independent book stores and they are becoming rarer each day.
I'm sad that Star Books is closing, too. I used to love going there to "recycle" my old books. They had a great poetry section, British editions of Harry Potter books (what more could you want?) Howeer, a couple thoughts I had while out walking the poodle:
First, the space was too small as compared to other independent stores in town to give it the cash flow it needed, which is too bad.
Second, just because a store is labeled "independent" doesn't mean its a well run business. For example, I often had the experience of wanting to trade in old books to Star. The guy who did the buying was there on Saturdays (sometimes) or not. It became very frustrating. Seemed like they didn't know what was happening. So I started to shy away from them. So for me, that begs the question: can a store be independent, progressive and yet be good at business?
I think the answer is yes. There are more than a few examples in this town alone. Room of One's Own, Community Pharmacy spring to mind...
Another area that I am not aware that Star Books explored or utilized was online sales. Maybe they did, but I wasn't aware of it. Recently, I had the experience of going to Strictly Discs, looking for a Phil Ochs compilation. B-Side had almost nothing and weren't interested in helping me (they're independent), Borders didn't have any, but Strictly Discs had several to choose from. And............they told me they'd be happy to order more Phil Ochs for me online and within 10seconds I was on the computer and had an email from the store by the time I got home. That's good business. Borders does the same thing, only fancier. I wish Star Books would have done this and expanded their virtual floor space......
The death of any small independent book store is a cause for mourning.
By the way, I just got my first order from Powells. Superb service, good prices, good selection (couldn't get the one book for my research anyplace else). There will be another one going out soon. I use the portal that allows a percentage of my purchase to go to their employees' union. Thanks to you.
PD: Yeah, I think that Star Books may have been on shaky business ground from the start. My understanding was, it was underwritten by a local philanthropist ... so there is that. Rainbow Book Store is another one that seems to have had a modicum of success for many years.
I DO like Strictly Discs. They've always been incredibly helpful in getting whichever (boring, says the rock&roll spouse) folk album I am looking for. And quickly. I forgive them that they reside in the heart of yuppie land.
QD: I am so glad that Powells has worked out for you. I don't even remember where I came across that portal, but it is a cool thing, isn't it?
In the future if you are looking for something progressive, and Powells doesn't have it, try The Rainbow Bookstore Co-operative here in Madison. They are the Radical Left book store, run by peaceniks, commies and anarchists.
Peaceniks and commies and anarchists, oh my!
My kinda folks, that is. Thanks for the information.
I will miss Star Books. They had their flaws, but the people who worked there were always friendly. I bought almost all my books there. Of course, I don't buy many books, as I use the library most of the time. There is almost nothing that I need to have right away, and when I did want to buy something, Star was able to order everything I wanted. With rare exceptions, I refuse to buy from the chains.
As PoodleDoc said, there seem to be a lot of independents who could learn a thing or two from the chains, but I still don't want to see them go.
Here's something small independents have that will never never be seen at a chain: pets. I love going into Star and seeing the great big goofy golden retriever, or hearing the cockatiel in the office ... I love the dogs at Sprucetree Music and Paul's Books (especially at Paul's, because the owner has a corgi.) They may not have the service thing down to a science, but they operate on a very human (dog?) scale, and I like that.
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