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Brick & mortar bookstores- R.I.P. & good riddance

SFG75

SFG75

Well-Known Member
I use to be of the opinion that brick & mortar stores were a necessary cultural institution. The joy of perusing row after row of books in a warm atmosphere was something that I truly enjoyed. Instead of joy, I experience consternation with "associates" who are half my age and who are truly clueless about the product they are supposed to sell. I'm also tired of little niche sections. The religion/philosophy & classics section is the same cookie-cutter colletion that is no different from the same store in a different community. And now for the biggest complaint-the price of the books. Compared to online stores, you are absolutely getting hosed if you buy from brick & mortar. I'm sorry, but a Chomsky Reader is $15.00, not $40.00+:banghead6mx: A slim play by Arthur Miller is $6.00, not $11.00.:angry:

I was recently gifted $100.00 from a relative I chose to spend it a bookstore. I will never do this again, but will instead, take my business online where I can get more bang for the buck. These companies, their clueless associates, and their investors deserve to go out of business. May they get knocked on their duffs and may more efficient and lean businesses rise up to replace them.

Alright, no where is my soap box?:D
 
Associates at a bookstore are the same as the associates at a drugstore, at an electronics store, or a department store. Most of them dislike their job, have no enthusiasm for it, and view customers as an nuisance that makes their day seem too long. I never ask the associates in any brick and mortar store for help. I figure if I look like I am lost or confused, the right associate will ask me if I need help, ensuring I get a good associate.

I was reading an article somewhere recently about failing bookstores and it cited one of the reasons for poor sales at Crown Books was their lack of a cafe. If that is indeed true, it implies that people would rather pay a cupla extra bucks for a book if there is a cafe under the same roof. I'm usually so excited with my new book purchases that I rush home without giving a thought to sitting at a cafe. My favorite reading position is prone and on the couch, not seated at a cafe with a $5 latte.
 
Even though there aren’t any decent book stores in this country and the vast majority of my book buying is done through Amazon, I still love book stores. Going to catch a real movie in a real movie theater and going to a real book store are two things I always make to do whenever I return home to the States.

I love all the things about them that was mentioned in the OP. I rarely ask for help because I am usually there to just browse. The few times I have asked for help was when I knew the exact book I wanted and told the clerk so he/she could locate it on the computer and point me to where it was. Usually if you know the name of the book or author their computer can do most of the work for them.
 
I was recently at a Borders and found the exception to the rule. The store manager recognized me (frequent flyer, I guess) and come over and said hello. We start chatting about what I was looking for and he spent some time telling me about his favorite authors and giving me some great recommendations.

That being said, I do have a complaint that my Borders seems to have become the "hang out" place for kids who's parents are probably at the other end of the mall. All children under the age of 18 should be accompanied by an adult willing to smack them back to reality if they start actling like idjits.

Just kidding. Maybe. :whistling:
 
I feel like a lot of what could be said in this thread has been said in this other thread (especially when you want to talk about the employee's and their knowledge of books):
http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/f50/the-demise-of-borders-bookstore-17867.html

But let's talk about prices.
I do a lot of comparative shopping... But I do comparative shopping through big companies... so I'll compare B&N prices with Borders and Amazon (this does NOT include 3rd part sellers) and I find that they are usually the same price. But yay me, I'm a B&N employee and get a discount.

Normally I take my business to used book stores.

Let's talk about variety of books, shelf organization:
There's not unlimited space in bookstores... I remember when there was no longer a horror section at my store... it had been merged with this enormous general fiction section. But they have to economize.
One thing that's upsetting for me also is that some genres aren't even represented at stores. When Lenny told me that there was an erotica section at BAM, I was freaked out! I had no idea they had that at huge chain stores. It's disappointing that B&N doesn't have something like that.
But once again, there are used book stores for that.
I find myself bored at chain stores... same books on the shelves... that's why... there are used book stores.
---
I want to revisit this thing about what you expect from a bookstore employee. Remember, we're not librarians. Some of us don't even have a college degrees and the business that we are in is RETAIL. Not an academic field.
At my college, we have librarians who specialize in subjects: feminism, medievalism, physics, etc... these librarians have degrees and a lot of education in their specialty.
Do you expect a minimum+ wage bookstore employee to know everything? Have read every single bestseller? Know about both physics & the lives of Medieval saints?
Our job is to find the book you want when you provide author and/or title, put the book in your hand and sell it to you.
 
I haven't read through all the posts but I do had say that I do alot of online shopping for books these days
 
I agree with you Libra6 about the employees' position at the bookstore...they are retail workers, not librarians.

As far as price goes.. B&N mostly sells Trade Paperbacks or Hardcovers, which have a higher price tag than mass market. I don't know if book prices have just gotten crazy over the past few years, or what, but most things seem to cost at least $12-15. Mass Market paperbacks are often times $8.00 now. Books are expensive.

Now with the Amazon Kindle and books going digital...I wonder how this will change the prices of tangible books. I can't imagine reading books off a digital device and not holding them in my hands... that may be for another thread...

The thing with Amazon is you must pay shipping unless you order at least $25. If I just want one or two books, of the mass market sort (I'm a fantasy fan!) then it's a rip off.

Used bookstores are the way to go. Support your local economy during these rough times, not the giant corporations that are getting the bailouts.s
 
Fantasy Moon said:
The only books in the erotica section of Borders that interest me is the Sleeping Beauty trilogy by Anne Rice.
Click to expand...
My favorite! B&N carries that, but it's shelved with the general fiction, so it's mixed there with all of Anne Rice's stuff.

Sparky said:
Great post Libra6.
Click to expand...
Thank you!
I just don't understand these high expectations of booksellers.
I wouldn't go into a clothing store and expect the salespeople to know all about the latest fashions and designers. I wouldn't expect them to know every single product they have in stock off hand. That's why we all have computers, to look shit up.

As I said in the other thread, sometimes we do know things, just not everything.
 
Libra6Poe said:
... so I'll compare B&N prices with Borders and Amazon (this does NOT include 3rd part sellers) and I find that they are usually the same price.
Click to expand...
It's true that Marketplace sellers on Amazon charge a flat rate of 3.99 [standard] shipping on each book, but I've found practically new, and new books for a penny, or a dollar, so, if I can find a hardback book for a total of about 5 dollars, it's a pretty good deal. Granted it doesn't always happen, and it takes time to search and cull, but in the end it's worth it.

That said, nothing beats a good Library Sale, and being able to walk away with 14 nice hardbacks for 20 dollars. :D
 
Also, a lot of the big chains won't hire associates who are bookworms, because they want them working and not shopping.
 
I love going into book stores in search of a new book to read or just to browse the racks for no reason at all. But I agree that real purchasing should be done online, its so much more economical and with a larger variety of options.
 
I'm schizophrenic I guess. When I know what I want I go online. But sometimes I don't know what I'm looking for until I find it. I have a terrific used bookstore in my town and its one of those slightly untidy mixtures of old and new. I love browsing in there. I'd miss it terribly if it closed.
 
Don't give up hope! I suggest locating some used book stores - most will carry or order new material for you if you need it, and the staffs are usually helpful and enthusiastic. The reality of "first run" stores is that they have to keep their selection fresh - even books that came out just a year ago are often missing from shelves. Because many people read and return books instead of keeping them, used stores often have copies of the latest offerings.
 
It makes me wonder if book sellers are as short-sighted as it seems. They are already losing many once loyal customers to online book sellers and second hand book stores. How do they respond? By raising prices again and pushing more patrons out the door. There is real potential for brick and motar booksstores to bring about their own demise.
 
All true,SFG75. But at least in a book store you know you are walking out with the book you want. Buy from Amazon and you can be in for a surprise when some book (eventually)turns up a week later that you never ordered.
 
It is usually cheaper for me to get a book from Amazon and pay for International Shipping ($12.49) than it is for me to buy the book in an Australian book store.

About the only books I buy in Australia are from second-hand book stores or seonc hand books from Australian eBay or similar sites.

Also I find that many books are hard to locate in Australia, even more so because I live in Tasmania where we do not have any really large book stores.
 
I have the same trouble in the book chains here, companies such as Waterstones rarely have good people who can help you find a book you are after.

I only really shop in one place now for my books. The shop is about 100 miles from my home, and a I go a couple of times a year and by 10+ books each visit. It's called Mr B's Emporium Of Reading Delights. The whole team there are confirmed bookworms, and although they don't discount, I have no problem with paying full price because of the service I get.

They have a wonderful service called a Book Spa. You get a cup of tea and cake and get to talk to one of the staff about your reading, and then they bring you a whole load of recommendations and talk you through them. I have really widened my reading using this service.

It's definitely the best bookshop I have ever been in!
 
I think there is only one bookstore in my city where you can have a cup of coffee etc. Unfortunately the coffee house area is up a flight of stairs and because I have trouble using stairs ( I have arthritis) I can't really get there.
 
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