I know this is a utterly ridiculously contrarian viewpoint, but I think the future of the independent bookstore, games store, comic store, video store, record store -- is bright. So bright, we need to pull shades.
If I had to guess what a town like Bend will look like in 10 years, I'd bet we have at least one independent bookstore, one record store, one comic store, one games store -- maybe more.
What we won't have is a Borders, Barnes and Noble, Blockbuster, Virgin Records -- whatever oversized monstrosity you choose.
In other words, it's the mass market, category killers who are going to be wiped out by the digital asteroid, leaving the survivors of this digital revolution to reap the benefits. The dinosaurs will be gone, and the mammals will have their day. After generations of scurrying into niches, the niches are going to bloom.
For most of my career, the mass market has been the biggest obstacle to my making money. The internet is relatively new, and frankly, the same responses I developed to survive the onslaught of Walmart is the same response I have to Amazon.
You can't beat them.
They will always be cheaper, they will always have more.
I was fortunate in that comics were such a small industry, that the mass market more or less ignored them. I could take a bigger slice of a much smaller pie. There are probably as many comic books stores in the U.S.A. as there are independent bookstores, or record stores, even though comics are much, much smaller market overall.
My guess is, that a small slice of a much bigger market (books, games, toys, music), even if that market shrinks drastically, will provide independents a future.
For sure, there is going to be a shakeout, as everyone adjusts to the new realities. Creative destruction on a massive scale.
But I truly believe that the shopping experience, the browsing, touching, seeing, talking, feeling, atmosphere soaking experience of independent stores is here to stay. Let Amazon have 90% of the market, and the 10% will still probably be more money than most comic stores make today, so I know it can be done. Independents won't get rich, but I think there can still be a satisfying career to be had.
No doubt, digital will reign supreme, but there will still be plenty of people who want books, or who want digital...and books. I think, in fact, that there will be lots of people who come back us, as the soullessness of the computer screen sinks in.
It will be our job as independents to have an idiosyncratic and interesting selection of books, have them displayed in eye-catching ways, be willing (and knowledgeable enough) to talk and interact with the customer, have places and hours where we can be found, and otherwise be a satisfying and enjoyable experience.
Those skills can be developed, even now. After a year or two of absorbing the lessons of the e-readers, I'm feeling more optimistic now than I have in a long time.
If I had to guess what a town like Bend will look like in 10 years, I'd bet we have at least one independent bookstore, one record store, one comic store, one games store -- maybe more.
What we won't have is a Borders, Barnes and Noble, Blockbuster, Virgin Records -- whatever oversized monstrosity you choose.
In other words, it's the mass market, category killers who are going to be wiped out by the digital asteroid, leaving the survivors of this digital revolution to reap the benefits. The dinosaurs will be gone, and the mammals will have their day. After generations of scurrying into niches, the niches are going to bloom.
For most of my career, the mass market has been the biggest obstacle to my making money. The internet is relatively new, and frankly, the same responses I developed to survive the onslaught of Walmart is the same response I have to Amazon.
You can't beat them.
They will always be cheaper, they will always have more.
I was fortunate in that comics were such a small industry, that the mass market more or less ignored them. I could take a bigger slice of a much smaller pie. There are probably as many comic books stores in the U.S.A. as there are independent bookstores, or record stores, even though comics are much, much smaller market overall.
My guess is, that a small slice of a much bigger market (books, games, toys, music), even if that market shrinks drastically, will provide independents a future.
For sure, there is going to be a shakeout, as everyone adjusts to the new realities. Creative destruction on a massive scale.
But I truly believe that the shopping experience, the browsing, touching, seeing, talking, feeling, atmosphere soaking experience of independent stores is here to stay. Let Amazon have 90% of the market, and the 10% will still probably be more money than most comic stores make today, so I know it can be done. Independents won't get rich, but I think there can still be a satisfying career to be had.
No doubt, digital will reign supreme, but there will still be plenty of people who want books, or who want digital...and books. I think, in fact, that there will be lots of people who come back us, as the soullessness of the computer screen sinks in.
It will be our job as independents to have an idiosyncratic and interesting selection of books, have them displayed in eye-catching ways, be willing (and knowledgeable enough) to talk and interact with the customer, have places and hours where we can be found, and otherwise be a satisfying and enjoyable experience.
Those skills can be developed, even now. After a year or two of absorbing the lessons of the e-readers, I'm feeling more optimistic now than I have in a long time.