Can one make a full-time living with a bookshop?

Radhika · Mar 29, 2011

With eReaders, web fiction, and libraries, what do you think about the future of independent bookshops? In some nice places, I see a bookshop out of nowhere, and it interests me that they're still alive.
Within the next ten years, will independent bookshops still be alive?
More importantly, will print still be alive?

alleycat · Mar 29, 2011

I'm sure you'll get opinions all over the map on this one.

I think there will still be bookstores, but probably specialized or niche, and/or combined with some other compatible business (coffee shop and used bookstore, for example, or small physical bookstore that does more of its business online as an Amazon marketplace seller). I think the days of the chain bookstores, and the traditional small mom-and-pop bookstores are almost over.

I don't know, of course, but I'm betting printed books with still be around ten years from now. You could even argue for a sort of "chaos theory" when discussing the future--something might happen two years from now that will turn everything on its head. For example, maybe the federal government decides to impose a 10% national sales tax on online purchases.

Tracey Taylor · Mar 29, 2011

I don't think much will change in ten years. Think back to 2000. Sure technology is a bit better now but not much has changed in the past ten years. I look around and see more houses and more brick and mortar stores but that's it. Everyone I know has the same shopping habits as they had ten years ago. They get what they can at the store and then they go online to order the things they can't get.

You have to remember, ten years goes by very quickly. It seems like yesterday everyone was panicking about the Y2K bug. I can't see print books and bookstores disappearing in ten years since that's simply not enough time for them to disappear. Newspapers were obsolete in late 1990s when the Internet got big but you still see plenty of newspapers around. If newspapers couldn't die in 10+ years, books certainly aren't going to die in another ten years.

Mark W. · Mar 30, 2011

I think we will have mom/pop and big box bookstores for years to come. The eformat/POD/Self Pub will be bigger but the quality between those and traditional publishers will be what keeps hard copy books and stores in business.

Jettica · Mar 30, 2011

I think independent bookstores can survive as long as they embrace technology and understand how the book market is changing and evolving.

I do think that quality is what keeps bookstores alive, as Mark said. I also think that there are still a lot of people out there who would rather read a print book. I find reading eBooks really difficult, there's less excitement in them. Although I am toying with the idea of a Kindle, there are some great eBooks out there that the author chose not to put into print.

gothicangel · Mar 30, 2011

There is a fantastic second-hand book shop in Alnwick, Northumberland. Most of the time you can't get parked outside the place. Easy to get lost in that place for 2 hours. They have this fantastic fire place and they offer a cup or tea of coffee for about 30p - complete with 'honesty box.'

Amazon just can't compete on that level. Brick and mortar bookshops are going nowhere.

Priene · Mar 30, 2011

Most small towns in Norfolk and Suffolk have at least one independent second-hand place. It's the chains that are dying.

Jettica · Mar 30, 2011

Oh that sounds so wonderful!

There's an independent book shop that's just opened in Norwich (I believe it's the only one in the city) but I've yet to go into it. It's just down the road from the two large Waterstones but I'm inclined to shop there, supporting local business and all.

AVS · Mar 30, 2011

There's a local bookshop (in a nearby small town), it's quaint. But it's overstocked and underorganised; they also seem to have a prejudice against stocking the top commercial fiction, and though I'm not a fan myself, celebrity books (bios, ghost written novels).

To an extent I laud their principles, but their business acumen is terrible. I fear they will not last, not because there is no market, but because their commercial skill is lacking.

Priene · Mar 30, 2011

Jettica said:
Oh that sounds so wonderful!

There's an independent book shop that's just opened in Norwich (I believe it's the only one in the city) but I've yet to go into it. It's just down the road from the two large Waterstones but I'm inclined to shop there, supporting local business and all.

It's nowhere near the only one in the city. There's the hooge place on St Giles, the one in a courtyard near Head in the Clouds, the antiquarian place at the end of St Benedicts, the musty one in Elm Hill, and one opposite the Cathedral on Tombland. There are probably a couple more I've forgotten.

gothicangel · Mar 30, 2011

Stirling has one second-hand shop [non-charity], a university campus bookshop and Waterstone's.

It's talk like this that makes me want to open an indie.

AVS · Mar 30, 2011

Norwich sounds fabulous.

I love old bookstores, I guess they're the equivalent of sweetie shops to me.

I do worry how many we will be left with to browse around given the threats of Amazon like businesses, e-books, the large number of charity shops carrying books and sadly very often their own lack of business knowledge.

Priene · Mar 30, 2011

Norwich is ace. We're also England's tartiest city.

gothicangel · Mar 30, 2011

Priene said:
Norwich is ace. We're also England's tartiest city.

I wouldn't know, Newcastle must have a shot at that title. :tongue

brainstorm77 · Mar 30, 2011

In the city where I lived. A chain shut down that sold new and used for years. The owner said that sales had dropped, and people were not buying the same anymore. I think that Chapter's also killed her business when they came to the city.

cbenoi1 · Mar 30, 2011

> With eReaders, web fiction, and libraries, what do you think about
> the future of independent bookshops?

They will sell what the main retailers don't sell easily: specialty books. Independent bookshops near schools and universities will continue to thrive for quite some time, for as long as the education system relies on a constant supply of up-to-date material. An erotic bookshop that doubles as a sex shop? Why not. Certainly not something Barnes & Noble will start anytime soon...

Just don't expect them to stock the latest James Patterson or even sell it at the same price point the main retailers do.

-cb

Grrarrgh · Mar 30, 2011

Print's not going anywhere. I know that ebooks are a growing market, and I don't think that's going to stop, but print won't disappear. It'll all level out eventually.

I agree with alleycat - I think that the niche/specialty bookshop will have a much better shot at surviving than a large chain with nothing else going for it.

Torgo · Mar 30, 2011

Tracey Taylor said:
I don't think much will change in ten years. Think back to 2000. Sure technology is a bit better now but not much has changed in the past ten years. I look around and see more houses and more brick and mortar stores but that's it. Everyone I know has the same shopping habits as they had ten years ago. They get what they can at the store and then they go online to order the things they can't get.

You have to remember, ten years goes by very quickly. It seems like yesterday everyone was panicking about the Y2K bug. I can't see print books and bookstores disappearing in ten years since that's simply not enough time for them to disappear. Newspapers were obsolete in late 1990s when the Internet got big but you still see plenty of newspapers around. If newspapers couldn't die in 10+ years, books certainly aren't going to die in another ten years.

Hmm, in the UK record shops basically don't exist any more - in 10 years, the internet has killed Tower Records, Virgin, and now (just about) HMV. There are no big music / video retail chains left any more.

We only have one big book chain left - Waterstones - and not everything is rosy with them (not least because they are owned by the flailing HMV.)

Terie · Mar 30, 2011

AVS said:
I love old bookstores, I guess they're the equivalent of sweetie shops to me.

Get thee off to Hay-on-Wye for a weekend, preferably not during the festival, unless thou likest crowds.

Susan Coffin · Mar 30, 2011

Spika said:
With eReaders, web fiction, and libraries, what do you think about the future of independent bookshops? In some nice places, I see a bookshop out of nowhere, and it interests me that they're still alive.
Within the next ten years, will independent bookshops still be alive?
More importantly, will print still be alive?

I've seen many variations of this thread.

Independent bookstores are not going anywhere, just as major bookstores are not. Print will always be. Not everybody will use or can use an E-reader. Libraries have never been competition for bookstores.

shadowwalker · Mar 30, 2011

B&N (used to be B Dalton) has a store in the city near here - was an old theater on the National Register that they converted *very carefully* so all the original castle theme and decor was preserved.

But there is nothing like wandering through a bookstore, whether it's a chain or Mom-and-Pop, picking up a book here and there, leafing through it, smelling the new paper, feeling the crisp pages... No general retailer could come close, and definitely not the internet.

Priene · Mar 30, 2011

Susan Littlefield said:
Independent bookstores are not going anywhere, just as major bookstores are not.

I'd agree with the first part, but the second is open to question. In Britain 15 years ago, there were three major chains - Waterstones, Ottakar's and Borders. The two latter are now gone, and Waterstones' future is constantly in doubt. It's easy to believe that there will be no bookchains left in five years.

Snowstorm · Mar 30, 2011

alleycat said:
I think there will still be bookstores, but probably specialized or niche, and/or combined with some other compatible business (coffee shop and used bookstore, for example, or small physical bookstore that does more of its business online as an Amazon marketplace seller).

This is what I was thinking reading the OP. I don't believe indie bookstores can stay open if that's all that's available in their store. They'll have to include other attractions.

In such a store about 30 miles away, they've added a coffee bar. That's the most popular segment of their store. When I sit in there, their special book orders appear to be robust. It's a sweet little store and I hope they can continue. Hubby and I love to give them business.

Tracey Taylor · Mar 30, 2011

It seems like chained stores being able to continue to survive is going to depend on the country. I haven't heard anything about Chapters being in trouble here in Canada. I tried using Google to search for news but not much came up. It probably helps that our bookstore options are Chapters or a Mom-and-Pop store. The market isn't spread out across multiple chain stores.

brainstorm77 · Mar 30, 2011

Tracey Taylor said:
It seems like chained stores being able to continue to survive is going to depend on the country. I haven't heard anything about Chapters being in trouble here in Canada. I tried using Google to search for news but not much came up. It probably helps that our bookstore options are Chapters or a Mom-and-Pop store. The market isn't spread out across multiple chain stores.

Chapter's here is doing really well. Everytime I have visited, there has always been a line at the cashier. And people are buying.

Can one make a full-time living with a bookshop?

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