quote:

Originally posted by rptyper

I was shocked to see a survey recently that said the vast majority of Americans had not read even one book last year. I forget what the percentage was but it was big.

Have not read a book … can’t add and subtract whole numbers … can’t locate Britain or Africa or Alaska on a map …
For all the badmouthing that rote memorization, longhand arithmetic and extensive reading assignments (including the classics) get, it would seem that we have become a great deal less informed and less worldly in the past 20 years – stupid to the point of isolationist – or was it the other way around?
Oops, did I say that? <note to self: "there’s an inside voice and an outside voice …">

I was shocked to see a survey recently that said the vast majority of Americans had not read even one book last year. I forget what the percentage was but it was big.

I like to look thru a book before I buy it … that means bookstores. Though when replacing a book I’ve already seen, I sometimes purchase it online (particularly used ones).

I don’t entirely buy that online book sales are responsible for most large bookstore closings … I suspect it has more to do with an increase in the sort of people you see on Jay Leno’s Jaywalking and Jaywalk Allstars.

quote:

Originally posted by NYNM

We all know a lot of small independent book stores were pushed out by big box stores a few years ago. But now I see the big boxes closing. A large Barnes & Noble in NYC closed last month (East Village) and I just learned that another one (my favorite in fact) will close (6th Ave & 21 St). I also heard that the huge Virgin Records Music/Book shop st Union Square is closing soon. In Santa Fe one of the two Borders has reduced stock and looks ready too close too.

I know the internet is killing book/music stores and I am wondering if this trend is obvious in other cities.

The Virgin Mega-store up the road from me closed.

Since my friend closed up his book store and moved to Raleigh (where he opened a new one), I have almost exclusively bought from Amazon.com. The Borders and B & N’s leave me cold.

However, a lot of what I buy on Amazon is from the used/remaindered book sellers, and from the look of the materials included with them, they are often real bricks & mortar stores.

We have two independent booksellers in our town … I am amazed at how often they have the books I am looking for. If they don’t they can generally special order faster than I could get from the Internet.

For me, it is local bookshop, Internet, big box … in that order.

What comes round comes round. Barnes & Noble and Borders basically wiped out the independent bookstores in our area. Now they are feeling the pressure with the internet. The problem is on the internet you really cannot pick up a book and judge it by its cover. I will buy a book locally even if it is is cheaper on Amazon.com. I do purchase a lot on Amazon.com only because some of the books I want just are not available locally. I have had a standing order for a Welsh genealogy book on Amazon.com.UK for for over 5 years. I keep upping the ante but so far no takers. Eventually I will get the book. [:)]

Alot of the Walden’s Book Stores in Baltimore are closing up. Walden’s was bought out by Borders a few years ago. Much like when Hardees bought out Roy Rogers years ago, the Baltimore area continued to have both Walden’s and Borders. I’m not sure if the the Borders stores are also closing up.

I find myself going to bookstores to get ideas about books that would interest me, but the actual books are almost always purchased on amazon. The exceptions are discount bookstores and used bookstores, where I’ll make all kinds of impulse buys.

I have also found a fantastic place for books in the St Petersburg area.
They have a number of outlets and get most of my business—–
The Pinella’s County Library——don’t know what I would do without it !!!

I use an online approach to all my book buying these days.
Part of a book store that I love here in the Boston area {The New England Mobile Book Fare} is http://www.ecookbooks.com or called Jessica’s Biscuit.
Coustomer service is outstanding fast and cheap shipping plus good on line reviews. Many of their popular titles are deeply discounted.
I still enjoy browsing the local Borders though and I do buy there on occasion also. Chow Jim

I’ve noticed the same thing. A lot of B&Ns are closing up shop…guess they can’t compete with Amazon or ebay prices?

I typically shop used anyhow, if possible…

Here in St Petersburg, Florida we have Haslam’s an absolutely
wonderful new and used book store. No coffee shop, no fancy
displays—just tons of books and almost as many people. Love
it and so does everyone else who visits there. So
COME ON DOWN !!!!!

I am not at all surprised that B&N is closing some stores in Manhattan. I always thought they took a shotgun approach – open as many stoes as you can and shut down the ones that don’t perform. Dollar Tree and the big chain drug stores do that, too. There still are ten non-textbook stores in Manhattan and some are less than a mile from each other. Yet, B&N is still opening new stores in other parts of the country.

For the mariner, yes, the B&N store at 105 Fifth Avenue is still there:
http://www.bnnewyork.com/

I just hope this isn’t doom for our Books-A-Million in Dothan – a new Barnes
& Noble just opened a few miles up the road, and when I was in BAM last Monday,
it was about as quiet as I’ve ever seen it, plus they have the disadvantage of
being one of the few surviving stores left in their mall location. [:I]

PS—Loved Audrey Hepburn’s book store in "Funny Face".