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The demise of the second-hand bookshop

thecritic.co.uk

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Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#121

Post by 3747yreur »

op03 wrote: post #57
smoe wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, the most magical thing about the small local bookstores is the people working there. Just getting into one, chatting with people genuinely and deeply passionate about what it is that they are selling. Having a coffee, talking about a book I read, what aspects I liked, philosophizing about the topic in general and getting recommendations what to read next based on that has beaten at least 10x any 'modern' and…

Isn't that what we get out of aggregating here tho at HN or slashdot? Some banter and the browsing of random subjects. I'd like the coffee though if someone cld please figure that part out.

Are you suggesting online posting is the same as an in-person conversation in a somewhat intimate environment? I get that it might be the same for you but surely you can appreciate that for most people online discussions are about as personal as a trip to the dmv.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#122

Post by loughnane »

Just want to shout out my two favorite used bookshops in Boston. Commonwealth books and Brookline Booksmith.

Both still seem to be thriving but with COVID they were my #1 concern about closing, followed shortly by the long-established neighborhood pubs.

Vibrant neighborhoods need what have been called 3rd spaces (I.e. neither home nor work) where people can hang out without necessarily spending much/any money. Bookstores fit that bill.

Though, to be honest, a good library offers much, though not all, of the same benefits.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#123

Post by dheera »

At the beginning of the year I spent about 10 days in 40 bookshops around Taiwan and one of the things I noticed is that a lot of bookshops (both first- and second-hand) are stepping up their game in a few ways to stay alive. Some of the things I noticed included:

- Well-curated collections to make people actually want to be there

- Some bookshops collect entrance fees since they don't necessarily expect to sell books. In return, you often get nice couches to read all you want, air conditioning, Wi-Fi, sometimes free tea, and sometimes you can discount your entrance fee against the cost of any books you buy.

- Some bookshops offer themed experiences in the shop itself. One I went to had the entire bookshop very dark except for the books and reading areas themselves, with the idea being that you only see yourself and the books, and not other people.

Of course, yet others seemed to be struggling, in the face of Eslite and other massive bookstores that have started to capture the young crowds.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#124

Post by Polylactic_acid »

irrational wrote: post #119
Polylactic_acid wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This aspect still exits in some areas. Local bike stores are still running and have the same community feel. They are perhaps only around today because people who ride bikes a lot tend to not be the people who want to drive 20km to the nearest mega store.

Why are people creating a community at the local bike shop? I ride my bike to work everyday (or did). But I only went to the local bike shop to purchase a new bike about every five years and went in for parts a few times a year. What in the world are people doing that they are going there so frequently that a community can be built up?

Its probably not quite as good as what is being described with the book shop but if you ride frequently and especially on rough mtb trails then you will probably end up going to the store once a month for replacement parts / services / clothes / new gadgets. And while you are there its common to have a chat about whats going on / new developments in public trails / etc.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#126

Post by gorgoiler »

vr46 wrote: post #4

What could well be the very last truly independent bookshop in London, will be gone soon. And I don’t mean Henry Pordes on Charing Cross Road, which I love, but Anthony Hall in Twickenham. He owns his entire building outright, and even though he is a specialist book dealer, has always maintained a small bookshop as a luxury addition to his main office, if you like. At one point, all nine rooms of the building were fi…

You reminded me of Fisher and Sperr in Highgate, gone but not forgotten, and illustrated a little by this article:

http://www.dalemcgowan.com/samples/bookcrawling.html

It is a grand theme of life that we fail to appreciate these things until it is too late. Thank you for the reminder.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#127

Post by larkeith »

et-al wrote: post #27
mistrial9 wrote: post #21

Used bookstores are a lot like gardens -- they must be tended daily and grown in 100 ways, year after year. The city I grew up in was legendary for used bookstores, and they sit all but empty now, decades later. The 'modern' people chiming in about how to "search faster" are missing an aspect of the experience that is literal and measureable, as well as partially undefineable simply because the portion of the mind an…

I'm curious what percentage are sales from merch for "destination" bookstores like Powell's and Strand these days.

Less than you would expect for Powell's, since they have an excellent online store for their books.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#128

Post by fiblye »

grugagag wrote: post #111
toyg wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what growing old looks like, friend. The world we knew is going away, to be replaced by a new world for new people who care about different things. I'm sure people who genuinely loved tending to mules and horses "lost interest" when regular folks started using trains and cars to travel. It's just how it is - humanity goes forth, as it will.

But that is only partially true. People socialize a lot less than they used to, things changed in a fundamental way. If you look around in NYC 50% of storefronts are empty and unoccupied. There are multiple reasons for the latter but it still is a fundamental change. Maybe the virtual world is thriving in some hot pockets but the analog world is becoming less welcoming to many of us.

> People socialize a lot less than they used to,

I don't know if people socialize less, but they socialize differently. I see plenty of people riding buses, trains, or walking around and endlessly messaging someone on their phones. It's easy to find complaints mocking these people as being drones and slaves to their phones, but they're actively socializing everywhere they go. They're just doing it with someone you can't see.

Most people 30 years ago weren't chatting up everyone on the bus during their daily commute. They were merely tolerating people. People today are silently talking the whole ride these days.

Yeah, it's harder to sit down and have dinner with friends and family every week than it used to be, but it's easier than ever to talk to them all day if you want to.

I know my grandparents would have people over for dinner almost daily, but they never left their small town. They knew those people their whole life and never lived more than 20 minutes away. Seeing them was easy, but if those people couldn't visit for dinner, that was it. There was no talking to anyone else for days if nobody randomly dropped by. Now people often move hundreds or thousands of miles from home, yet it's possible to have a conversation all hours of the day if you want to.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#129

Post by stevewillows »

mistrial9 wrote: post #21

Used bookstores are a lot like gardens -- they must be tended daily and grown in 100 ways, year after year. The city I grew up in was legendary for used bookstores, and they sit all but empty now, decades later. The 'modern' people chiming in about how to "search faster" are missing an aspect of the experience that is literal and measureable, as well as partially undefineable simply because the portion of the mind an…

A few times I've gone to Portland specifically for the food and for Powells. It's easy for me to lose a weekend browsing and skimming -- and when you need a little rest, there are plenty of areas to hang out and chat with whoever you went with.

It's unfortunate that this is such a rare feature for a city.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#130

Post by fomine3 »

pm215 wrote: post #76
m4rtink wrote: post #40

Yet the japanese second hand book/game/CD/DVD/hadware company Book Off is as successfull as ever, with stores pretty much everywhere in Japan and starting to expand overseas: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_Off Its really an amazing rxperience there - clean orderly stores with bright illumination jam packed by books at lidiculously low prices & you can find total gems there if you look for a while - like the fir…

I would be interested to know how much the Book Off model depends on the fact that manga is a huge market in Japan. Every time I've been into a Book Off, there's always been a huge manga section and it's always packed with people because (a) manga is really popular and (b) they don't shrinkwrap the manga to prevent people reading them in the shop the way a lot of places do. In a market like the UK or US where (comics…

Brand-new book distribution system in Japan also heavily depends on manga magazines, especially for magazines. It's getting unsustainable on nationwide due to sales decreasing.
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