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Death of the bookshop

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  • December 9, 2015 at 4:31 pm #25142
    brooksby

    I work in Bristol.   Our Waterstones has halved its stock (again) and put a cafe in.  Foyles has moved into a smaller unit in Cabot Circus and now has slightly less than W H Smiths (we do still have a W H Smiths).  The Blackwells on Park Street has closed. The impact of the interweb has been on the edge of my radar, but I’d stuck to a “buy one thing off Amazon, buy one thing in a bricks’n’mortar shop” regime, but now…?

    There’s almost no point in visiting any of these shops any more – they rarely update their stock, and are doing their best to sell everything and anything except books.  Browsing on Amazon is difficult  – you can’t ‘just notice something’ unless you are looking for it or Amazon’s algorithms point it out for you.

    I don’t want to have to buy an ebook reader – I like paper books.

    Am I being a luddite grouch, or is this it and the interweb has finally killed off the bookshop?

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  • November 14, 2016 at 10:17 am #863743
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    RMurphy195

    I prefer books and maps to

    I prefer books and maps to the electronic versions, and I don’t consider myself a luddite at all, just being practical. (Nice collection of OS walking maps building up, I can spread one of these out on the living room floor and plan what I want to do).

    I agree, browsing for books – and many other things for that matter – is getting more and more difficult, and feel I am being forced to buy off the internet due to lack of stuff in shops – a classic case, have out tried to buy a tourer over the last few years by simply visiting bike shops to see the products in the flesh? Or compare tyres, bike luggae etc. to see what they actually feel like? I’m fed up with buying stuff, finding it isn’t suitable after all, and having to send it back.

    Back to books – I used to work in Birmingham town centre, and spent many a happy lunch hour browsing books shops, especially second hand ones, and of course the central library. But now for used books I have to rely on charity shops,  stalls in local fetes etc (and the odd trip to Ironbridge or hay-on-wye!) I buy fiction used (lots since I retired) and half the fun is going around with a list of things to get – or it was,  when there were lots of used bookshops around each with lotsof books in on all sorts of subjects.

    Non-fiction – where I want a specific book or books on a specific subject – often means giving up and using the internet. But I can’t pick up a book on he internet, leaf through it and think – “maybe this isn’t what I’m looking for after all”.

    Local library – mine closed down years ago, in favour of  a nice showpiece building which has proved so expensive it can’t afford books! (I live in Birmingham)

    Oops I’ve ranted again

    August 23, 2016 at 11:02 am #863741
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    elroy

    I prefer reading paper books.

    I prefer reading paper books. I only use my ebook app while travelling. I always buy atleast 2-3 books every month. 

    December 11, 2015 at 11:18 pm #863739
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    Simon E

    At least 95 % of the (mostly

    At least 90 % of the books I have read in the last few years (mostly cycling) have been from the local library. Use it or lose it!

    I like paper books and I appreciate browsing in and buying at a real shop. I’ve asked for 2 books for Christmas and requested that one is purchased from the local indie bookshop. The other is Cycling Anthology vol. 6, which she will hopefully have ordered from Prendas by now. This title is not yet available on Kindle so Stumps is going to have to wait if he wants to read it. Ner ner!

    More than once I have retrieved a previously read Anthology volume from the shelf on a whim and re-read individual chapters. Would this happen when you have 250+ titles on a Kindle? I doubt it, though I acknowledge that the format does have other benefits.

    December 11, 2015 at 9:27 am #863737
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    Stumps

    I shop at Amazon for my books

    I shop at Amazon for my books as i use a KIndle and have in excess of 250 books on it now. There is no way i could store that many books at home and the Kindle is a blessing for me.

    Price wise a brand new paperback is nigh on the same price as a Kindle download of the same book.

    But more importantly i can get older books easily, such as very early forgotten realms books whereas they dont print them anymore.

     

     

    December 11, 2015 at 9:08 am #863735
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    brooksby
    NeilG83 wrote:
    I don’t think it is all doom and gloom though. I live in Cheltenham where there are plenty of independent shops and a new book shop has opened this year and the small town in Dorset where my parents live has at least 4 book shops.

    Nope – Bristol has pretty much died the death, which is frankly embarrassing for a city!

    Interestingly, in France there is a law, which ensures a minimum price for books. This means online retailers and supermarkets cannot undercut smaller shops on price. 

    I think we used to have that here, but it was removed because it was seen to be uncompetitive – which is why a bog standard paperback now starts at £8.99…

    December 10, 2015 at 4:13 pm #863733
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    NeilG83

    My three biggest passions are

    My three biggest passions are reading, cycling and listening to music. These retail sectors all have a long tradition of independent shops and have been hit hard by supermarkets and the online retail boom. It will be our own fault if our town centres turn into wastelands and you have to wait days for your online purchases to arrive or pay extra for next day delivery.

    For readers and music lovers online shopping certainly has it’s advantages with a much greater range on offer. Price and convenience is a big factor too especially when Christmas shopping on a budget, however I am trying to have an Amazon free Christmas this year.

    I don’t think it is all doom and gloom though. I live in Cheltenham where there are plenty of independent shops and a new book shop has opened this year and the small town in Dorset where my parents live has at least 4 book shops.

    Interestingly, in France there is a law, which ensures a minimum price for books. This means online retailers and supermarkets cannot undercut smaller shops on price. 

     

    December 10, 2015 at 2:15 pm #863731
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    brooksby
    jasecd wrote:
    You’re not being a luddite – the internet has caused bricks and mortar retailers to adapt.

    There are other smaller online retailers though – I personally don’t shop at Amazon due to their flagrant tax dodging.

    For me, browsing in a bookshop (and buying several books per month), is a recreational pursuit as well. On an online bookstore, you lose the spontaneity – you can’t just see something and think “Oh, I’ll try that”, or flick to the end and see if the ending reads well, or any of that.

    But I think “bricks and mortar retailers to adapt” is putting it politely. I totally understand that it’s because of commercial pressures, but if I want to buy a boardgame I’ll go to a toy store; if I want a coffee I’ll go to a coffee shop. I go to a bookshop to buy a book, and it pains me that very soon that won’t be possible.

    December 10, 2015 at 1:00 pm #863729
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    jasecd

    You’re not being a luddite –

    You’re not being a luddite – the internet has caused bricks and mortar retailers to adapt.

    There are other smaller online retailers though – I personally don’t shop at Amazon due to their flagrant tax dodging.

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