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Large book chains vs. small indep.stores-which do you prefer?

I really dont care were i buy my books from,but i usually find that the smaller book shops by me you have to order and it can take up to a week! But the blue coat chambers in liverpool city cenre has a book sale every month and there are bargains to be had! :)
 
I would shop independent stores if I could actually find one that isn't more than an hours drive. The only bookstore that I know of within a reasonable distance is part of a chain.
 
It all comes down to the personalities of the individuals providing the service - like in most careers. If they seek job satisfaction you'll get customer joy.

To balance my tirade in favour of small indie bookshops, I went into one in Yr Wyddgrug, a small market town in Wales an hours cycle ride from my house. In the one bookshop (independent) I asked for Robert Pirsig's Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, as I couldn't find it by browsing. A girl whose eyelids wouldn't open properly (Welsh cannabis is soooo soporific) asked if it might be under Philosophy - no, though on reflection maybe it should be.
Art - excuse me?
Motorbikes - erm, no.

We eventually found it under travel - oh well.

Geoff
 
GeoffNelder said:
It all comes down to the personalities of the individuals providing the service - like in most careers. If they seek job satisfaction you'll get customer joy.

To balance my tirade in favour of small indie bookshops, I went into one in Yr Wyddgrug, a small market town in Wales an hours cycle ride from my house. In the one bookshop (independent) I asked for Robert Pirsig's Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, as I couldn't find it by browsing. A girl whose eyelids wouldn't open properly (Welsh cannabis is soooo soporific) asked if it might be under Philosophy - no, though on reflection maybe it should be.
Art - excuse me?
Motorbikes - erm, no.

We eventually found it under travel - oh well.

Geoff
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LOL-Wonder where they would've put The Motorcycle Diaries DVD. :D
 
I buy most of the times at the independent stores - basically, because there are few book chains and none at all where I live. Besides, big chains can't offer better prices because book prices are fixed here in Germany. The only thing they can offer is probably a wider selection and better prices for foreign books. But if I want foreign books I'll order them from Amazon anyway, last time I went to the local store for a foreign book, it didn't arrive for months. (PanAroma by Tom Robbins, shouldn't be that hard to come by.)
 
SFG75 said:
So where should you shop? Big chain stores or small-independent ones?

If you say the latter, why does it matter?

Why should big chains be punished for being successful?
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I don't bother going into big stores. They are not interesting to browse and they usually don't have any particular title I'm looking for. If I bought more (ie, any) NYTimes best sellers or Oprah book club selections then I might go more often.

I enjoy browsing the small stores because the small stores that have managed to survive do so by having more interesting and off-beat titles on display, and because the staff tend to have an interest in books. Most of the staff I've encountered in the larger stores might as well be selling groceries or tires as books for all they seem to know or care.

If I sound like a snob, it's because I am.
 
Talking of independent bookstores. I have a book signing at Bookends, a small but excellent independent shop in Carlisle, UK on Saturday 24th September. It starts at 11a.m. and it would be cool to see any of you there, even if it is just to be mischievous!

Geoff
 
magemanda said:
I never feel guilty about where I buy my books.

I frequent big chain bookstores or charity shops principally for my book buying. I go to the big chains when I want to browse or to buy something specific. I go to the charity shops when I need six or seven books for a holiday, or when I want to just 'try my luck'. I love the randomness of the charity shops, but my main book-buying occurs in big chains.
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I love the 'try my luck' element of charity shops too!

I tend to shop in WHS because I like collecting the points and then treating myself to a 'free' book!

I love Ottakars - it smells like a proper bookshop, but I don't often shop in the town where our nearest one is.
 
I tend to head to Chapters when I want to browse, dream and get ideas. Then I go to the small indie and order them from them! I want to support the indie, but they don't have a "oh that looks good" factor that Chapters does with 9 times the shelf space.
 
I enjoy browsing the small stores because the small stores that have managed to survive do so by having more interesting and off-beat titles on display, and because the staff tend to have an interest in books. Most of the staff I've encountered in the larger stores might as well be selling groceries or tires as books for all they seem to know or care.

If I sound like a snob, it's because I am.
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To me, it's about whether or not a person is helping to choke small businesses that don't have the tentacles(i.e.money) to outlast a competitor who tries to bid them into bankruptcy. I do understand your point though, unless I'm looking for popular fiction, most large places are worthless. If I see one more rack of "chicken soup for the _____'s soul" books or "Tuesdays with Morrie" I will just lose it.:mad:

Nothing wrong with being a snob-it's just being picky.;)
 
I don't really mind. If there's a book store around, I'll go into it. It's the prices that determine whether I'll buy something from there. ;) The good thing about large book chains is the variety/choice they have.
 
SFG75 said <If I see one more rack of "chicken soup for the _____'s soul" books or "Tuesdays with Morrie" I will just lose it. >

Ditto for the windows and tables-full of Christmas books - - aaaarrrgghhh!!

Geoff
 
i almost never ask the staff for help, therefore i prefer large chains. more books, easier to walk around in, more to browse, and i can find a specific book much faster. i'll go into an independant book store and all, but the ones in my area are crowded and censored. and very unorganized. while i like the amount of sales and cheaper books, i just can't stand the environment for too long.
 
Firstly let me state that I love Second Hand stores - there is so much character to them, and I actually prefer pre-owned books. They have their spines already cracked so that I don't feel guilty for doing it. I also love the feeling of finding a bargain. My TBR is so long that I'm bound to find something I actually want to read, or perhaps even discover something new.

I don't mind large book stores. I kind of like losing myself in them. I enjoy browsing, and I find that in the smaller stores the shopkeeper has his eye on you, which is a sensation I don't really like. If I'm going out to find a gift for someone and need inspiration I'll go to an independent store because they will likely know their books far better than some 16 year old high school student who's only interested in their pay check.
 
I just had an issue come up with this-

I'm a huge used book fan too and the 2 bookshops I go to most are small, family owned, great little shops but they carry no new books.

We get mostly everybody some type of book for Christmas so yesturday we went to get started. We try to shop at locally owned shops, so we headed downtown to one of the few independent shops in town and it was horrible. It was dark and dingy, badly organized, nearly no staff present and the ones that were there were chatting it up with friends in front. We had a list of around 15 books and walked out with none. Many we couldn't find and couldn't get help with, we BTW were about the only shoppers there and the few we did find were much more spendy and while I usually will pay a bit more at a small shop I like, I just couldn't do it at this place. We left and bought our list at Barnes & Noble (which I really like ours they have a very nice staff and easy lay out) and while I often feel bad for the little shops that get put out of business from big chains, I also feel that some deserved it.
 
Another problem with independent stores is accessibility. Often their hours are similar to banker's hours, not like my hubby's, and they're often in less visible locations, so I'd have to hunt for them. The store I went to recently was very eclectic in its inventory, making gift shopping a challenge perhaps. My dh and two dds might have a great time there, but the others in the family would be challenged to find something they'd want.
I was pleased to see that our favorite used bookstore has gift certificates. That would be a great option this time of year, as most of my kids beg to go there.
 
Kookamoor said:
Firstly let me state that I love Second Hand stores - there is so much character to them, and I actually prefer pre-owned books. They have their spines already cracked so that I don't feel guilty for doing it. I also love the feeling of finding a bargain. My TBR is so long that I'm bound to find something I actually want to read, or perhaps even discover something new.

I don't mind large book stores. I kind of like losing myself in them. I enjoy browsing, and I find that in the smaller stores the shopkeeper has his eye on you, which is a sensation I don't really like. If I'm going out to find a gift for someone and need inspiration I'll go to an independent store because they will likely know their books far better than some 16 year old high school student who's only interested in their pay check.
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i love reading a book with an already cracked spine. i dont really know why. whenever i go to the library and there are multiple copies, i usually pick the one w/ the most cracked spine.. well, it is much more comfortable to hold then

i dont like feeling like i'm watched by the shopkeeper either.
 
WoundedThorns said:
i love reading a book with an already cracked spine. i dont really know why. whenever i go to the library and there are multiple copies, i usually pick the one w/ the most cracked spine.. well, it is much more comfortable to hold then

i dont like feeling like i'm watched by the shopkeeper either.
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LOL-I know exactly what you mean!. I use to read a book by just "peeking" into it and would not crack the front of the book open any more than I absolutely had to-I had a thing for keeping it like new. Now I don't care, I fold it back no matter what page I'm on.:D
 
I buy from the store that has the book I want at the best price, which nine times out of ten is the big chain stores. And I don't feel bad about it for a second.

Capitalism rules! :)
 
One small bookstore with a shop in the local mall used to have a middle aged woman clerk who would pounce on you as soon as you entered the store, wanting to know if she could help you find something. A "no, we're just looking" didn't put her off-she'd appear at your side while you were browsing, asking if you were looking for something in particular in that section. Other customers were given this overly helpful treatment, too. This happened every single time we went in there so we stopped going, then one day we went in cautiously and found the woman was gone, thank heavens.

The other end of the spectrum are clerks at stores such as Barnes & Noble, where finding someone to help is like a scavenger hunt. The central Information booth is more likely than not to be abandoned with no one in sight, and if I go to a counter for help, if there's someone there they appear to be so fantastically busy and make me wait and wait, often answering a phone before getting around to me. It would be so much simpler if there were computer kiosks where I could look up a title or author to see if the store had them in stock, without wasting time looking for someone to ask.

When I worked in a used book store, the propreitor would say hello to customers entering the store, making it plain that she was available to answer questions, but left people alone to browse. I think that's the best way to go about it.
 
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