Independent Book Stores

I had a shock today. I took mother to show her Arirang: The Bamboo Connection on the shelf at Mina Hemingway's Book Store (yes, the granddaughter of Ernest) and the framed cover of Arirang: The Bamboo Connection on her wall. It's not uncommon for Mina to be in the store, so I thought I might also mention The World Outside The Window anthology that Don Harpe and I have mentioned for a possible signing in the near future.

Mina's store has been a wonderful place for local authors. We did a television gig from there. She stocks our books and promotes our signings. She is also a lovely person to know. When I showed up for a book signing with a dozen books, she said,

"Don't you have more books? You need to stack them! Assume hundreds of people will come and be ready!" Her enthusiasm was catching.

All the windows today were covered with white paper. A scribble sign said, "Closed." Another described a couple racks for sale. That was it. No forwarding information. No telephone number. No new location. No reason. Everything gone but the white paper and those racks.

When and where did it all go? My books, too? My framed book cover? Even more, where are they all going? Can the independent book stores survive in this economy? I hoped because they usually sell consigned and used books, too, that they might have a better hold than the chains. Now, I wonder.

Are your independent book stores holding their own? Is my surprise today just a local thing? They are so new author and POD author friendly compared to the chains, that their loss is a major hit. I'm still spinning.

DK,

The independents have been falling like leaves in the fall. The problem is practices between publishers and the large chains. I had an independent owner explain what was going on. The large chains can sell below the price that independents pay wholesale. Most independents may get 40% discount. Some chains may be getting into 60%, 70% discount territory. This owner some had come across an invoice to one of the majors and the discount was 80%. That is why you see 40% discount at the nationwide stores.

The other hammer is the discount store. What often happens is shopping for quality at the local to see what to buy and going to Walmart or Target to purchase. Independents don't carry everything and big box guys are likely to have it in stock today. The books sold everywhere model is another problem, Sam's Club, supermarkets, discount stores; it's tough to survive.

When I went to New Orleans I stopped at two stores along the way and left stock, one is closed. I mailed books to a multiple store chain based in Maryland. DC area, the entire 8 store operation is gone.

A store that was in Dallas for over 25 years closed over 2 years ago.

I just woke up. I guess it's all part of a changing world. There's obviously no stopping the change. A new Books A Million opened in Naples. That was also a surprise. Bigger and better? For whom? Oh well, mom still talks about the surrey with the fringe on top and her elegant ride to church....

What a shock, DK. Hope you can get your framed cover and books back. Looks like something similar happened to you as well, DT.

In my area of So CA, about the only game in town is a couple of trade paperback stores.

That is horrible, DK. Almost like losing a good friend. And losing the opportunity to do a signing there again must be extremely sad for you.

The little independent in my town is still open, but the owner has been less than friendly. The 'trade your used paperbacks in, 2 for one' is still open, but I have no idea how well they are doing. If you take in 2 paperbacks, they will let you have one you haven't read yet. At least that is how I understand their ads. Other than that, they sell used paperbacks, and I should probably go in and look around the next time I am in town.

It isn't just book stores. It happened to the independent hardware stores, drug stores, grocery stores, clothing stores, gas stations and now book stores. People like to have all those friendly local stores where you get real service, but then they turn around and buy things at the big boxes. They have saved a few bucks here and there but lost far more. Americans fail to realize there is more to life than saving a dollar here and another there. It's too late to reverse the trend. People feel they have been smart, yet life isn't as good.

And I don't think they have saved that much money. When we go to Walmart it is to buy one or two things we can't buy anywhere else in our small towns. We buy that item and go home. We also walk through the aisles for exercise when we can't walk outside due to weather.

But do you notice all those people coming out of Walmart with their carts filled with purchases? They have just bought far more than those few items they needed. Walmart draws people in for cheaper prices but then lures them into buying other items they didn't know they needed.

And the experience of shopping in stores where those who work there know your name, and know what you are looking for and where it is, are lost.

Carol

My mystery bookstore owner sent me a response to my email inviting me to pick up my books and my poster, short and to the point.

This is very sad. And the largest retailer of books in the US is WalMart. Probably the world. Their sales dwarf amazon, much less your neighborhood book nook.

The good news is, many indepdents are holding strong and increasing sales. The smart ones, the aggressive ones...and the ones lucky enough to have a literate population around them.

Among the healthiest of the independents, oddly maybe, are the fairly recent strain of genre stores: mystery, sci-fi, romance, spiritual. "Mysterious Galaxy" in San Diego is all SF/F and mystery. They're in a strip mall. They have a HUGE program of visits and such.

Two two other super-solid stores in San Diego are both "boutique" stores with strong local slant, located in La Jolla and Coronado--enclaves of the rich and tourist spots.

DK, I had a similar thing happen where I live. This was a coffee/book store. They had computers set up for customer use and did poetry readings on weekends. I loved the place. I had my books, business cards, posters and other little things displayed in the store along with other local authors and one day when I went to get a cup of coffee from there, they were locked up tight with nothing but a few tables inside. I saw one of my books on the table, but that was it. I had to call the the realestate person that was selling the place and they gave me the phone number to the owner. When I called to tell her I wanted all of my books and poster back, she told me she didn't know where they were. I got the one back that was on the table and that was it. I was not happy and I told her what I thought of her business practices. Some of the other local authors lost their books as well. It is very disheartening.

Vickie

Vickie, so happy to see you! Welcome back, but sorry to hear about your bookstore. It gets scary, but at least our local B&N is still going strong.

Dick reminds us that it is not just our favorite, independent bookstore but many small businesses that are closing their doors. I opened my eyes today and saw acres of empty stores wherever I looked. It seems to me it was the corporate giants that brought us to this state; maybe someone should wake up to the fact that it was the small businesses that grew that created jobs. Instead of bailing out the corporate giants (which may be needed....), someone should be saving our corner store. I heard today the whole town of Wilmington will be unemployed soon - Feed The Children is bringing them food.

Hi Brenda, I've missed everyone so I wanted to start making more of an appearance on the forum when I can. It has been difficult to do any serious writing with all of the things going on in my life at this time.

The way small businesses are going under is sad.

Vickie

There is always a risk when placing goods on consignment. Even a signed agreement is no protection when a business goes under. Yes, it is sad that so many small businesses are crumbling while many of the big ones are being bailed out.
An author selling his/her own books is in the small business category and is vulnerable.
Can you buy a book from any outlet and say, "pay you later?"

DK, I am glad you got a response and I'm sorry you lost your books, Vickie. What a shame that things are going in a downward spiral. It is the little guy that really needs the 'bailout' money, but no such luck.

We can only hope for a 'turn around' in the economy.

We have three in town, and they are all holding up just fine. They have had to diversify, focusing on used and new, as well as remainder books and other options. We also have a Borders and Barnes and Noble. The indies don't compete with BN and Borders, who only stock big names or books from big publishers. The indies are working by focusing on smaller presses, unknown authors, niche genres, etc. However, things are tough: shipping costs have gone up, browsers are down, etc. The economy is really shaking things up...

We lost a 100-year old used bookstore last summer, which was awful. They just cannot compete, as some of you have already mentioned. Many small, family businesses have gone under here, and others are doggedly keeping at it, determined to survive. We have small communities out here that have lost their gas stations, but at the same time some small businesses have transposed their gas station/convenience store into an old fashioned haberdashery. There is one that's on a secondary highway near here that sells everything from ice cream to needles and thread, fishing tackle, first aid supplies, books, and musical instruments. The place is so crowded that it's tough to get through in spots. I am taking some of my books out there to see if they'll sell them. It's a great place for the locals to pick up this and that, and plenty of tourists end up their too (there's nothing else for miles!). I bought an African drum there a couple of years ago - talk about great therapy!
I think that efforts like the "100 Mile Diet" and buying local help, although if no one's got disposable income, they'll not be buying books. Maybe we need to follow that up with some kind of "buy local - read local - support your local author" kind of campaigning??