Much like the culture of vinyl and glory that is a great record store, book stores are not qoing quietly to their oft-trumpteed grave. In fact, accroding to an excellent piece by Kevin O'Kelly in The Huffington Post, indie bookstores aren't dead at all — in fact, they're making a comeback. And while online retailers like Amazon, Powell's and BN undoubtably own the market share, the growth is due in large part to something preached in this blog on several occasions: the importance of "community" and the ever-increasing comittment by consumers to "buy local."
As O'Kelly says "although bookstores are businesses, a good bookstore is never just a business. For avid readers, a bookstore is as much part of the social fabric of the community as is an old-fashioned town square or a beloved park." I couldn't agree more; my local bookstore (along with record stores) are amongst my favorite places to kill time — and more often than not, I leave with something under my arm.
Digital retailers and e-books are here to stay, but with more American adults reading, I'm betting that the comfort of the physical book on the beach or on the couch by the fire continues to hold a place for businesses that were once close to extinction. Like record stores, the consumers say "Not so fast..."
#indiebookstores #recordstores #huffingtonpost #KevinO'Kelly
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