Sadly, I Think The End Is In Sight For (Major) Book Stores
Mar 3, 2022 17:11:03 GMT
marianne48 likes this
Post by thekindercarebear on Mar 3, 2022 17:11:03 GMT
a recent article from...usatoday? was saying there is a resurgence in new and used book stores.
As people around the U.S. turned inward over the last year and a half, adjusting to virtual work calls, remote schooling, and Zoom birthday parties, consumers appear to have found a respite from the onslaught of technology dependence: reading.
In June, the Association of American Publishers reported consumer book sales were up 17% year-to-date, bringing in $4.1 billion in revenue. Revenues across book categories were up 18.1%, bringing in $6.3 billion in the first six months of 2021.
Although Amazon and other major retailers continue to dominate the book market, independent booksellers who adapted to changing economic and social conditions have been able to eke out a piece of that revenue pie, catering to a consumer base looking to both get away from screen time and support local businesses in their community, including those in Central Massachusetts.
“One of the main things that really helped us at the beginning of the pandemic actually was Amazon, because for five or six weeks they stopped shipping books,” said Paul Swydan, owner and operator of The Silver Unicorn Bookstore in Acton. “They chose to focus on the grocery delivery market, which they've been trying to get a stranglehold on for almost a decade.
“If you wanted a book, you had to get it from somewhere else, and a lot of times that somewhere else was us,” Swydan said. “So that really helped us grow our customer base.”
A 2020 working paper from Harvard Business School professor Ryan Raffaelli, pulling on data from the American Booksellers Association, indicated a 49% growth in independent bookstores between 2009 and 2018, increasing from 1,651 to 2,470.
He credited the resurgence to what he called the 3C’s: community, curation, and convening, finding independent bookstore owners wooed customers back from Amazon and major chains by underscoring a connection to community values, curating personalized inventory, and casting themselves as intellectual hubs.
That’s a major shift from the late 1990s when the ABA reported a 43% drop in the number of independent bookstores in the latter half of the decade, directly following the launch of Amazon.com, per Raffaelli’s report.
In June, the Association of American Publishers reported consumer book sales were up 17% year-to-date, bringing in $4.1 billion in revenue. Revenues across book categories were up 18.1%, bringing in $6.3 billion in the first six months of 2021.
Although Amazon and other major retailers continue to dominate the book market, independent booksellers who adapted to changing economic and social conditions have been able to eke out a piece of that revenue pie, catering to a consumer base looking to both get away from screen time and support local businesses in their community, including those in Central Massachusetts.
“One of the main things that really helped us at the beginning of the pandemic actually was Amazon, because for five or six weeks they stopped shipping books,” said Paul Swydan, owner and operator of The Silver Unicorn Bookstore in Acton. “They chose to focus on the grocery delivery market, which they've been trying to get a stranglehold on for almost a decade.
“If you wanted a book, you had to get it from somewhere else, and a lot of times that somewhere else was us,” Swydan said. “So that really helped us grow our customer base.”
A 2020 working paper from Harvard Business School professor Ryan Raffaelli, pulling on data from the American Booksellers Association, indicated a 49% growth in independent bookstores between 2009 and 2018, increasing from 1,651 to 2,470.
He credited the resurgence to what he called the 3C’s: community, curation, and convening, finding independent bookstore owners wooed customers back from Amazon and major chains by underscoring a connection to community values, curating personalized inventory, and casting themselves as intellectual hubs.
That’s a major shift from the late 1990s when the ABA reported a 43% drop in the number of independent bookstores in the latter half of the decade, directly following the launch of Amazon.com, per Raffaelli’s report.
and really there has to be.
publishers have all these books, new and overstock Amazon cannot take so the publishers need mom and pop and discount book stores too.
and there are still all the used books in circulation.