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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  2228 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Barnes & Noble confirms job cuts, expects $40 million in annual cost savings

For new books,

My local bookstore of choice sounds similar. Lots of author events, patrons can place review slips on the shelf under their favorite book, two cats, specializes in mystery and politics but will buy whatever.

My second favorite bookstore is mainly a leftist-activist art gallery / stationary store that stocks verso books and publishes local pamphlets and stuff.

In the past 10 years, I've bought maaaaaybe $12 worth of stuff from BN that wasn't last minute gift shopping. Usually I wandered around and then left empty handed. I spent probably $250 between the two local shops last year.

    They have to offer something that a website can't: people. That requires investment in your staff, the community and building more people reading books.

The community part of this is key for any sort of small, independent business anymore. You can't get away with simply being the only place in town that has $ITEM, because amazon definitely has $ITEM for cheaper.

The owner of our independent hardware store passed away recently. I've heard a fair amount of talk about how one of the various local non-profits should step in and buy the place if his family decides to close shop.

I'd absolutely throw them some money to do that. It is a community space just as much as it was a business. Probably more the former than the latter, as Rod would regularly knock down prices when writing out the receipt just because he felt like it. And then you could mill about talking politics/sports/homebrew for however long you liked.

    Whoever decided these were the golden years should be strung up by the ears.

    -- Rod Ernst

Get the community part right, and I'll pay you a good deal more than I'd be willing to pay elsewhere.