Support your indie bookseller

[Wickerman]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061008/ap_on_bi_ge/independent_bookstores;_ylt=AuP0p7v1Hp05.YCrx23eoXms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3cjE0b2MwBHNlYwM3Mzg-

Indie bookstores fight chains, Internet

By DON BABWIN, Associated Press Writer Sun Oct 8, 6:44 PM ET

CHICAGO - Adam Brent knew his 11-year-run selling best sellers and new releases was over when mail carriers started walking into his building to deliver books from Amazon.com to the tenants upstairs.
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"Literally, they didn't walk downstairs or take the time to make a phone call," Brent said of the neighbors of Brent Books & Cards in the city's business district.

Brent's experience is shared by scores of independent bookstores around the nation that have been knocked out of business by huge chains like Borders Group Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc., massive retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and most recently Internet sites like Amazon.com.

But Brent is also part of a growing number of independent bookstore owners refusing to give up. He's closing his store this month but plans to reopen as a discount book store. Others are luring customers by putting in cafes or opening specialty shops that cater to a specific audience, like mystery lovers. Some are following the lead of public television and selling memberships. Or they're being saved by investors who can't bear the idea of losing these local institutions.

--snip--

I've known of a couple of Indie stores that have closed and the market for used book, if not specialty, is pretty much drying up. If you have a good indie store near you - patronize it!

[TomInTib]

1. Our little town has lost two independents in the last three years.

I live in Belvedere/Tiburon, California.
This is a pretty high demographic area.
Last Fall, our loal paper (weekly) conducted a survey that asked what would it take to bring the locals down from the hills to shop Downtown Tiburon.

The #4 response was an independent bookseller.

And we have lost two of them recently.

[LWolf]

5. It's been 15 years since I lived

near an indie book store. When I moved last year, I did find an indie store about 25 miles away; I shop there when I happen to be in the area. I make a purchase "just because," whether they have what I'm looking for, or not.

I buy a lot of books. Mostly I'm not browsing, I'm looking for specific titles, very few that can be found stocked in stores. So I buy online.

[flamingyouth]

2. Definitely

I do shop at some of the big stores, but I do the majority of my shopping at independent stores around Seattle.

Thanks for posting this and for the reminder. :thumbsup:

[RetroLounge]

3. Please do...

:thumbsup:

RL

[BOSSHOG]

4. Heading to Bay St Louis Mississippi this weekend

The indy bookstore reopened last weekend after being wiped out by Katrina, (Bay St Louis is right on the water.) I'm really looking forward it. It was a great little store in a great little charming town.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. Many people don't know that you can search for a title on Amazon and

then buy it at your local bookstore. An independent bookstore can order any title that's still in print and track down any book that isn't.

When our choir is learning new music, I like to seek out CDs of the more difficult pieces so I can get them into my head. Typically, I search for the piece on Amazon and then look for it first at an independent store (Cheapo Records) first. I order from Amazon only if Cheapo doesn't have it, which rarely happens.

[peacefreak]

7. Thank you. This is so important.

A big box store is moving into my town. I've worked at a well respected store for over 15 years. We are taking steps to meet them head on, but it's not going to be easy. I hope that once the dust settles, people will still remember our value in the community. We are the people who know about your mother & what she reads, have watched your children grow up & kept the store open during a power failure, so people would have a warm place to be.
Be assured, the money (meager) I get paid stays in my hometown. I buy my groceries at the local market, & my music at the local indie music store.
You like independents? Please support us. We can't do it without you.