For those who like to browse through bookstores, this is a difficult time.
Many stores have closed their doors, and few new ones have opened. One is then inclined to go to a major outlet where books are only a small part of the retail operation. Furthermore, formerly there were many small shops that specialized in selling used books, but they, too, have been disappearing. There are several reasons for those unfortunate trends.
While there remains a hard core section of the population that buys books, the number has been dwindling. Young people remain lured to the internet or are making contact with Facebook “friends.” Even newspapers and magazines report that readership among those under 30 years of age has been falling. Google is planning to have copies of almost all books available on computer screens. It is hard to believe that most will be willing to read a book that way, but some may.
Clearly, booksellers have been hard hit by the recession, by rising competition, and the aforementioned ebooks.
The leading sellers of books have become the big retailers such as Wal-Mart. There the sales personnel usually know nothing about the books on display, and are impatient to deal with customers making larger purchases. Often the open exhibit of books are not serious works, but light-hearted ones that could attract attention.
At a large retailer, a customer may want help in selecting a book for a particular person, but probably no one is available to offer any assistance.
Then too, the public increasingly is irritated by the price on the dust cover of books, revealing a huge disparity between the price in U.S. dollars and the Canadian counterpart, despite the fact that the Canadian dollar now is at parity with the U.S. one.
The large retailers are inclined to sell books at a discount to lure customers into their stores, sort of a loss leader, and to get the merchandise off their shelves. Small bookstores, however, have trouble matching those price cuts.
Given all those factors, will bookstores go the way of the horse and buggy? That is not inevitable; it all depends on the counter moves undertaken to attract customers. Service and advice on books will be big drawing cards. A bookstore in Kitchener invites authors to be present, not just to sign copies, but to give background information on the book. That may lead to discussion groups as well.
Bookstores could advertise and help organize book clubs. Those groups would socialize and review current books. Some stores have started creative writing classes. In the United States a bookshop runs a literary summer camp. Lots have branched out by selling cards and wrapping paper. Others have toys around while parents look around and flick through magazines. Independent bookshops thus must try something completely new, reinventing themselves to thrive once again.