Yay Failing Book Stores?

[Mark]

Borders may be failing, but last I heard Barns and Noble was doing pretty well? Has this changed (anyone know for real?)

In any case this store wasn't a big borders... it was just one of the mini mall ones, and in a mall that has failed, then tried to be reborn, and now appears to be failing again.

Around here it seems the Borders are doing fine but the Waldenbooks (which they own, I guess) are mostly closing.

 

[pawsplay]

Personally I don't know if I would be celebrating a failed book store, even if it was a chain store. Yes, you get a short-term bonus of really cheap books, but over time that will mean less competition and therefore higher prices.

Which is almost certainly good for specialty retailors. What can a real hobby shop do to compete with a big box retailer buying at deep discounts? And what is good for specialty stores is almost certainly good for hobbyists, in the long run.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Oh, I care about having bookstores, but I'm quite content with the online kind. If anything, I prefer the convenience of shopping online. The better prices are just icing on the cake.

Those prices are as low as they are because they are competing with the convenience of brick and mortar stores. Once competition is removed, do you really think they're going to keep those prices low?

Short term thinking is why our economy periodically goes "Boom!"

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Which is almost certainly good for specialty retailors. What can a real hobby shop do to compete with a big box retailer buying at deep discounts? And what is good for specialty stores is almost certainly good for hobbyists, in the long run.

That could be true. Or it could be that margins are falling and book stores are finding it more difficult to survive.. Bigger stores, who generally require a higher profit margin, go now. The smaller specialty stores could follow.

I don't have any expert knowledge on this other working in the Economic/Finance field so I could be off base on this.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Garmorn]

Those prices are as low as they are because they are competing with the convenience of brick and mortar stores. Once competition is removed, do you really think they're going to keep those prices low?

Short term thinking is why our economy periodically goes "Boom!"

So said the cart merchant about the newfangled store building.

Change is normal. Humans will all was go for the most economical means. Competition will be around as long as it is not stopped by artificial means.

Some specialty store that provide things that are not wanted in large quantities might survive or they might move to the internet. Some big stores might survive but there is already whole markets that are almost completely internet based. (Vacuum tubes anyone?).

 

[TheAuldGrump]

No, it was self-centered when we allowed all the local book stores to get killed by national chains to save a couple bucks. Now those chains are dying. Soon there will only be one or two flavors of book stores. ("All restaurants are Taco Bell"). It's capitalism at work. What are we actually willing to pay for?

The market spoke.

And sometimes the local stores really deserved to go under.

We had a local that fired all of its experienced employees when it heard that Borders was coming to town, replacing them with less expensive but inexperienced people.

The first thing that Borders did was hire all of the experienced folks from that store that they could get their hands on - so that they were the one with the experienced, knowledgeable staff.... Many of those people are still with Borders, ten years later.

The Auld Grump

 

[Ourph]

Those prices are as low as they are because they are competing with the convenience of brick and mortar stores.

Wrong. The prices are low because of low overhead, massive customer base and high volume. And as I said in the post you quoted, I find brick and mortar stores to be less convenient than online stores.

Once competition is removed, do you really think they're going to keep those prices low?

Yes, because online stores have competition; other online stores.

Short term thinking is why our economy periodically goes "Boom!"

As someone suggested upthread, I'm just voting with my dollar. I prefer online shopping and cheaper prices. It's up to the booksellers to provide me with a better and/or cheaper option if they want my business. It's the idea that no industry or business should ever fail (even if its services or products are outdated and no longer competitive) that's short-sighted and bad for the economy.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

It's the idea that no industry or business should ever fail (even if its services or products are outdated and no longer competitive) that's short-sighted and bad for the economy.

Didn't say that.

I do, however, define "competitive" with more components than raw price.

I would rather the bulk of the profit taken from my purchase stay relatively local, so I try to buy from local retailers. If those local retailers do something as idiotic as The Auld Grump described, all bets are off.

But if the difference is (and it typically is), very small in real terms... I'd rather help finance a local kid's college education than gift wrap more money for corporate interests in Delaware and Beijing.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The most powerful vote you can cast has nothing to do with elections. You vote every time you open your wallet. Sometimes voting for what you want to see more of in the world means paying a bit more.

That is what is known as "enlightened self-interest."

I follow it on a daily basis.

 

[drothgery]

The thing is that relative to Borders and Barnes and Noble, both the small in-mall chains (which were later acquired by the big box guys) and the vast majority of indpendent bookstores had a worse selection, higher prices, and didn't have the conviences almost every B&N or Borders offers (places to read, buy coffee, free wi-fi, etc.). That's still not as nice as buying from Amazon in your pajamas or during lunch break at work, though.