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0 pointsartificial3y ago0 comments

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

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Smaller bookstores are actually doing pretty okay these days: 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.

ghaff3y 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.

legitster3y 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.

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bluedino3y 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.

munificent3y 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_salad3y 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.

bombcar3y 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).

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legitster3y ago

Smaller bookstores are actually doing pretty okay these days: 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.

ghaff3y 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.

legitster3y 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.

1 more reply

bluedino3y 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.

munificent3y ago

> How are they still in business, by the way?

It's essentially "stuff introverts like" in a nice space.

jabroni_salad3y ago

bombcar3y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse