_______ __ _______
| | |.---.-..----.| |--..-----..----. | | |.-----..--.--.--..-----.
| || _ || __|| < | -__|| _| | || -__|| | | ||__ --|
|___|___||___._||____||__|__||_____||__| |__|____||_____||________||_____|
on Gopher (inofficial)
URI Visit Hacker News on the Web
COMMENT PAGE FOR:
URI How does an independent bookstore survive for 90 years?
Grokker wrote 4 hours 55 min ago:
A healthy supply of independent readers?
paradox460 wrote 16 hours 28 min ago:
Sam Weller's is somewhat of an institution, but I was sad to see them
move out of downtown and over to Trolley Square.
Trolley square is one of those urban/suburban mall projects that always
seems to be teetering on the edge. The edge of success, or the edge of
failure, depending on your optimism/pessimism scale. You can go there
on a summer afternoon and see nary a soul in the place.
The effect of them moving over there is that I now have to _purposely_
go to Sam Weller's, rather than stopping by when doing other things
downtown. Couple that with the bookstore being split between the books
you can actually buy and the rare-book reading room, and its somehow a
incongruous experience.
I love the store and what it represents, but do feel that the move kind
of signified the full turnover of downtown SLC from a somewhat bohemian
place, with cafe's such as the Atlantic, and tea shops such as the
Beehive Tea room, to just a support structure for City Creek Mall, is
complete.
dghlsakjg wrote 18 hours 4 min ago:
I don't fully understand it, but the I5 Corridor in Washington hosts an
exceptional number of used bookstores.
It seems like every tiny town has a decent one.
My favorite is Easton's Books in Mt. Vernon, WA. Massive selection of
paperbacks, as well as great collectible books as well.
louky wrote 16 hours 35 min ago:
101 In Oregon used to have at least one in every tiny town, haven't
been out that way in a while but I found some amazing deals on some
old and rare books.
brightball wrote 17 hours 15 min ago:
Didnât Amazon start out selling books? Might explain some of it.
loughnane wrote 18 hours 39 min ago:
If youâre in Boston weâve still got a few great ones. Iâm partial
to used books
- Commonwealth
- Brattle
- Brookline Booksmith
- Harvard
- Rodneyâs (though it moved)
Also if you like old bookstores youâd probably find The book âin
praise of good bookstoresâ a delightful read.
underlipton wrote 18 hours 6 min ago:
I know some might chafe at me recommending a Youtube video about
reading, but I came across this one a few years ago, and it's an
interesting exploration of modern bookstores and the dynamics of
reading as a pursuit in the age of social media:
URI [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIW5jBrrsS0
abhgh wrote 18 hours 33 min ago:
Seconding the book recommendation. The author is Jeff Deutsch who is
the director of the Seminary co-op bookstores, Chicago. These also
have been around for a while. I have been to the one in the Univ. of
Chicago campus, and would recommend visiting!
wenc wrote 18 hours 12 min ago:
The Seminary Cooop on the UChicago campus is excellent â I spent
many afternoons there. Also there are many book events by famous
authors.
Down the street is the 57th St bookstore which is less academic,
and also a great place to find more popular books.
loughnane wrote 18 hours 32 min ago:
Was such an intimate, sober, loving look at bookstores. Really
great.
kwhitefoot wrote 19 hours 29 min ago:
By starting decades before it became so easy to buy books online and by
being willing to keep going through hard times. Essentially by being
founded in a completely different time. There probably won't be any 90
year old bookshops in 90 years time.
loughnane wrote 18 hours 35 min ago:
Iâve got a book-related side project I hope to launch in a few
months. In my quiet moments I like to dream it would support a
bookstore as a part of it. Theyâre great places and what makes them
great is hard to find online.
RedCardRef wrote 16 hours 34 min ago:
+1 even I want to join the mailing list.
greenie_beans wrote 17 hours 33 min ago:
lemme get on your mailing list, love to know what's going on with
new stuff in the book world. i have a book-ish side project too:
URI [1]: https://www.bookhead.net/marketing/
ghaff wrote 18 hours 37 min ago:
When it was generally a pain to order books that weren't in stock.
That were generally not discounted--and when they were, not by much.
No ebooks. More people used to read more books.
Buying a load of used books was pretty much a monthly thing for me at
one point. Now I might go to my library's annual book sale when it's
$10 a bag.
rufus_foreman wrote 16 hours 47 min ago:
>> More people used to read more books
I read a lot of books, at least one a week, but physical bookstores
don't work for me. I decide what book I want to read next, and then
get that book, either a physical copy ordered online or a digital
copy, instead of going to a bookstore and picking a book from what
they have available.
I'm old, bookstores are what I used to do, I like the idea of them.
I like the idea of browsing a bookstore. But, in reality, I rarely
go to them.
I can get exactly what I want instead of whatever someone wants to
sell me.
ghaff wrote 16 hours 34 min ago:
With the exception of books that are really about the appearance
perhaps, it's not like browsing a book in a bookstore for a few
minutes tells you all that much. You're basically dealing with
the marketing (like the cover and the blurb) at that point.
Probably better to deal with online reviews however imperfect.
I still appreciate the experience every now and then but, really,
I don't have a lot of reason to buy from bookstores much of the
time.
rufus_foreman wrote 12 hours 27 min ago:
Well to take the other side, I was a kid. The way that you
would discover things, bookstores were a part of that.
But I don't have to discover things now. I get exactly what I
want. There's no underground.
The things I would have had to seek out now get delivered by
Amazon.
That world is over.
Is the new world better?
For purposes of finding books, oh hell yeah.
bombcar wrote 18 hours 21 min ago:
I used to stop by a used book store or two just to browse around
and see what was out there.
I don't do that anymore, and it's not only because there aren't any
used book stores nearby.
ghaff wrote 18 hours 3 min ago:
I used to do a semi-regular Saturday trip into Harvard Square to
shop for books, music, and other things. Really just no need or
interest to do that anymore. I don't need more stuff generally,
don't buy physical music media for the most part, and while I may
grab the occasional used book, I have a pretty large backlog and
can have something on my Kindle in a minute. Mostly don't have a
need or interest to browse in stores.
bombcar wrote 17 hours 43 min ago:
That was a big part of it; I recall heading home from school
and stopping in at the used bookstore, grab a interesting
looking novel for 25 cents, read it on the way home, toss or
donate it.
abhgh wrote 19 hours 33 min ago:
If you're in the Bay Area and like visiting bookstores that have been
around awhile, there are quite a few good ones here:
* Bell's books, Palo Alto, ~89 yr. [1] * Moe's books, Berkeley, 65 yr.
[2] * Green Apple Books, SF, 57 yr. [3] * City Lights, SF, 71 yr. [4] *
Recycle Bookstore, San Jose, 57 yr. [5] * Feldman books, Menlo Park,
~25 yr. [6] * Borderlands, SF, 27 yr. [7] * Friends of the Palo Alto
Library (Fopal), Palo Alto, ~54 yr, [8]. This is a used book sale (2nd
weekend of every month) and not a bookstore per se, but it gets a
special mention because of the price and breadth of books/topics. Esp.
good for technical books (I have a $2 hardcover CLRS from here) - these
are hard to find elsewhere. Los Altos library also conducts a pretty
big sale, but that's not as frequent.
I'm sure I am missing some! [1] [2] [3] [4] [4] [5] [5] [6] [6] [7] [7]
[8] [8]
Edit: added fopal.
URI [1]: https://www.bellsbooks.com/about
URI [2]: https://www.moesbooks.com/
URI [3]: https://www.greenapplebooks.com/store-history
URI [4]: https://citylights.com/our-story/a-short-history-of-city-light...
URI [5]: https://www.recyclebookstore.com/about
URI [6]: https://www.feldmansbooks.net/home
URI [7]: https://borderlands-books.com/v2/about/history/
URI [8]: https://www.fopal.org/history
m463 wrote 17 hours 39 min ago:
great list :)
too bad so many have been lost. I think bookbuyers is completely
gone now.
1letterunixname wrote 20 hours 4 min ago:
Powell's (Portland) and City Lights (SF) are worth mentioning and
should be on your bucket list.
0. Powell's is massive.
1. How many bookstores can claim they published Ginsberg?
2. The used bookstore collapse from 2002-present has been a
slow-moving, silent killer of independent bookstores. Davis, CA had a
half dozen bookstores until Borders moved in. Then Borders went bust in
2011 and they were left nearly a book desert. This mirrors, in a more
minor way, food deserts that Walmart's expansion and contraction
brings. [1] [2] [3] [4]
URI [1]: https://daviswiki.org/Bogey%27s_Books
URI [2]: https://daviswiki.org/Gayle%27s_Books
URI [3]: https://daviswiki.org/Orpheus_Books
URI [4]: https://daviswiki.org/Sweet_Briar_Books
URI [5]: https://daviswiki.org/The_Next_Chapter
shiroiushi wrote 11 hours 46 min ago:
>The used bookstore collapse from 2002-present has been a
slow-moving, silent killer of independent bookstores. Davis, CA had a
half dozen bookstores until Borders moved in. Then Borders went bust
in 2011 and they were left nearly a book desert.
I don't get it: how would Borders put independent used bookstores out
of business? People who want used books (either because they
actually like old books, or because they want good prices) aren't
going to find them at Borders or any other new bookstore. They're
different markets.
>This mirrors, in a more minor way, food deserts that Walmart's
expansion and contraction brings.
Same thing here: people who want quality food aren't going to shop at
Walmart.
greenie_beans wrote 17 hours 38 min ago:
the amazon hemorrhaging already happened and the industry stabilized.
new indie stores are trending up: [1] also:
URI [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/10/books/bookstores-diversit...
URI [2]: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/books-back-what-caused-bookst...
PaulDavisThe1st wrote 16 hours 51 min ago:
and for good or ill, even Borders is expanding again
ghaff wrote 19 hours 29 min ago:
Although I guess it is something of a tourist magnet, The Strand in
NYC is probably also worth mentioning. (But then so are the two you
mention.)
monknomo wrote 19 hours 43 min ago:
I really miss having quality used bookstores. I used to live
somewhere with a Friends of the Library that was top notch. And
things like [1] are also top notch. But they sure aren't everywhere
URI [1]: http://www.wavebooks.com/
Arrath wrote 16 hours 30 min ago:
The scent of the random used bookstores my parents dragged me into
as a kid is a core memory.
Also contributed a lot of garbage/mid tier 70s and 80s sci fi to
our shelves but I'm still a voracious reader so mission
accomplished, parents.
Simulacra wrote 19 hours 18 min ago:
Strongly recommend Better World Books. It's a unique nonprofit that
sells used books to fund adult literacy programs. Free shipping.
www.BetterWorld.com
huytersd wrote 19 hours 39 min ago:
I luckily have one where I live. I love the prices. Theyâre
always $2-4 and makes it so easy to find something you would never
otherwise stumble upon.
INTPenis wrote 20 hours 20 min ago:
I don't think surviving for 90 years is the problem, the challenge
would be surviving for the next 10 years. Or if we're being optimistic
and poetic, another 90 years.
Ajay-p wrote 20 hours 52 min ago:
I see a lot of similarity between indie book stores, and bicycle shops.
Both ebb and flow as seasons, tastes, and availability change, in
addition to competing with big box and online stores. They are part of
our communities that appeal and serve broad segments of people,
supporting them should be encouraged.
ghaff wrote 19 hours 31 min ago:
Funnily enough, I was walking down the street in a nearby city before
a play to see what was new. I sort of mentally observe that a bike
store in the area was still there that had been there 45 years ago
when I was an undergrad and probably wasn't new then.
macspoofing wrote 20 hours 55 min ago:
They own the building/storefront (i.e. no lease and no mortgage)? If
you're a retail outlet and you own the property outright, you can
weather almost any storm.
amcaskill wrote 18 hours 13 min ago:
My family operated a jewelry store this way for about 90 years.
âBrick Shithouseâ was their term for it.
âAn article built more robustly than its function requires; implies
an element of indestructability.â
URI [1]: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/brick_shithouse#:~:text=Nou...
jandrese wrote 18 hours 28 min ago:
Also, the company is privately owned or the owner is also a majority
stakeholder. Otherwise owning the building is a liability that
venture capital types will exploit to pay themselves back for the
expenses of taking over your company.
smogcutter wrote 18 hours 12 min ago:
Surely you mean an asset, not a liability?
jandrese wrote 10 hours 54 min ago:
Not if you are trying to avoid being bought out. Those assets
are just something the VC firm will leverage to buy out your
company. Basically telling their lenders that you own X amount
of real estate worth $Y, so use it as collateral on the loan they
make to take over your company. Those assets then get sold to
pay off the loan and the stores get to pay rent to some landlord.
loughnane wrote 18 hours 34 min ago:
Iâve heard this in several places. Itâs really key for longevity.
garciansmith wrote 19 hours 15 min ago:
I worked at a used bookstore for many years, and this is what the
owner told me how he managed to stay in business for more than 40
years in the same building. Especially since moving all your stock to
a new location if you rent is a big pain.
bombcar wrote 18 hours 23 min ago:
It can often be the line between success and failure; commercial
rents are such a major portion of a service business's expense.
Ajay-p wrote 20 hours 51 min ago:
Until property taxes eventually push them out as it has done in some
urban communities. Ownership is huge but prices will always rise so I
think it's hard to ever let their guard down.
jandrese wrote 18 hours 27 min ago:
You pay the property taxes either way. It's not like the landlord
can just make them go away, they just get hidden in the rent hikes.
bombcar wrote 18 hours 30 min ago:
Property taxes will eventually get you, but if the bookstore owns
the building its in, it will (almost by definition) be able to sell
for millions and move elsewhere, if it wants to.
Usually (in my experience) it survives until the owner retires or
dies, and then disappears.
DIR <- back to front page