

Back to the future with bookstores - kgthegreat
http://www.cooper.com/journal/2011/09/back_to_the_future_with_bookst.html

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rodh257
I reckon an Amazon store that serves as an interface to their online store
might be good. Don't sell books there, but rather you go in, and can browse
through books, drink coffee etc just like a Borders store, and if you have a
kindle, you can buy books on the spot, if you don't, you can order them
shipped to your house. That way they only need a 1-2 copies of each book in
the store, just as display stock. They could sell kindles there, and have
computers/tablets for purchasing online (even perhaps let you buy books
through your kindle app on iOS/android by scanning barcodes/qr codes). Staff
could teach people how to use Amazon/kindles etc. Book signings/launches could
also be held there.

That's basically how I've used Borders here in Australia before they went
bust. I would go in, and enjoy the atmosphere of the physical book store,
flick through books, and then take photos of them and go home and buy them
online via Kindle or Book Depository for half the price. I don't mind if I
don't get the book instantly (though I would anyway if it was out on kindle),
I just enjoy browsing. It would be a good sales generator for Amazon with
still a fairly low overhead.

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billswift
This might be a good idea, if they can figure out how to make enough money to
stay open. One problem with Borders was that coffee shops and bookstores don't
mix; I bought an expensive art book one time at the big Borders in White Flint
Mall and found a big coffee ring on one plate when I got it home.

ADDED: Thinking about it a little more, what is happening to bookstores in
general looks like a good illustration of " _The answer to 'Why don't
they...?' is almost always 'Money'_."

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swanson
I wonder if this model could work with Amazon affiliates program - ensure that
the bookstore gets a cut from people ordering books on the Amazon terminal.
Maybe Amazon would subsidize this kind of store, instead of the publishers, to
capture the mall-goers that browse around Borders just because it's there and
end up buying a random new release.

That would kind of remind me of an Apple store - they could have Kindles lying
around for you to preview sections of new releases, a "genius bar" for
recommendations, easy payments with your Amazon account, free coffee for Prime
members etc.

I don't think Amazon would actually do it because setting up Brick and Mortar
storefronts doesn't seem to gel with their business, but it would be kind of
neat and I could see this type of specialty meat-space front end for web
properties really taking off.

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gdilla
one reason amazon doesn't like brick and mortar stores is that they will have
to charge state sales tax where they set up shop. That's one advantage they
have over B&N.

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Robin_Message
These sound great, and do you know the best thing about his idea? There
probably already is one in your town. It's called a _library_.

Seriously, they provide almost everything on his list: socialising spaces,
quiet reading areas, computers, free wifi, book ordering, cafes and
bibliophile events. And interestingly, they are paid for by membership fees
(if you squint, government-run libraries make everyone a member and pay a fee
via general taxation). These government-run libraries would make it quite hard
to run a similar thing as a business. That's probably okay, because a library
is somewhere between a merit and a public good (a quasi-public good).

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MatthewPhillips
That's a rosy picture of what a library is supposed to be. In my experiences
they are places parents send their kids for free after-school day care, where
homeless people go to get out of the heat, or where people who don't have a
computer go to use the internet. Bibliophiles definitely use them, but they
don't hang out there and socialize with like-minded people.

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jakarta
I don't know where you live, but I've had a lot of good luck finding nice
libraries. When I spent a summer working in NYC, the SIBL library was just
awesome in terms of facilities, hermann miller chairs, etc.

In Boston there's a few good ones too.

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spc476
There's a wonderful used and rare bookstore around the corner from my house
(and it doesn't hurt that we're both less than a mile from a large
university). The store has been around for at least twenty years and given the
size of the store, and selection, I don't see it going anywhere any time soon.

Well, that is, as long as the owners live.

It's not uncommon to see books from the 1800s line the shelves. It's a place
where one could spend hours perusing the stacks for long lost gems.

And they also sell books via Amazon. I think they've figured out their
business model.

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Tichy
I suspect a lot of such bookstores are just pet projects of people who can
afford them (they got other money sources).

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spc476
The owners of the bookstore I mentioned also own/run another bookstore about a
mile away that focuses on college textbooks (it's how they started---used text
books along with other used/rare books).

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bugsy
Warm and fuzzy, but I have to ask how many people can honestly say they would
pay a cover charge or monthly membership fee to be allowed to enter a
bookstore. I suspect the number is quite low.

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prawn
Have to agree - I wonder if this is trying to solve the problems faced by
physical bookstores, rather than trying to solve problems faced by consumers.

Another reply to you mentions the niche-in-a-big-market thought (which is fair
enough), but for me something like Book Depository solves my 'problem'
perfectly - painless, cheap, etc. I will read a book in the morning, lying in
some ridiculous position on the couch, in airports; no part of me at those
times wishes I was reading in some public space.

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johnwatson11218
I have thought about something like this combined with a Xerox Docutech. I
worked with one during college and was impressed that it could take pdf files
off the network and do limited runs for class notes. It could even do some
simple binding with heavy stock cardboard for the covers and some kind of
adhesive for the spine.

I wouldn't want anything like a Kinkos but maybe the store could also do
higher end binding of single books. I don't know how that is done now but I
would probably pay for nice editions of particular books. Especially if I
could customize the covers, stock etc.

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zwischenzug
My wife managed an independent bookshop for a few years (The Travel Bookshop)
which had not only a prime London location and a nice niche, but a worldwide
feature film to draw punters in from.

There's almost no money in this business, and some of the ideas in the article
are frankly laughable (a "book gym"? LMAO) outside very small parts of the
Valley perhaps in the boomiest of boom times.

I particularly liked the idea of a genius bar where they'll "fix your iPad".
WTF? Sounds like one of the worst VC pitches you'll ever hear.

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create_account
Nice try, Hugh Grant, but we know you're really an actor, not some bookshop
owner.

~~~
zwischenzug
If only.

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tzs
Barnes and Noble would get more business from me if they'd make their online
side and the stores work better together.

For instance, they have the ability on the site to find if a book is available
in your local stores. How about extending that so that I can have a view that
only shows books that are in stock at my local stores?

Another one would be to allow exchanges through the store. Right now they do
allow returns--that is, buy online and decide you want to return it, and you
can drop the return off at your local store instead of going through the
hassle of shipping. However, if you buy online, and they ship you the wrong
item or a defective item, and so you want an exchange rather than a return,
then you have to ship back to them and have them ship you the correct item.

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ippisl
I think the author tries hard to ignore the role of technology.

1\. It's clear that most books will be ebooks , especially for people
interested in book communities.

2\. It's pretty easy for anybody with an interest to form an offline(or
offline/online) community anywhere using digital tools. reddit meetups are a
good example.grubwithus is another. And they facilitate better communities at
a cheaper(sometimes free) price.

3\. The capability and benefits of online communities is always improving.
Google+ hangouts is the latest example. Maybe in the future they'll replace
offline book communities at all ?

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forensic
hes talking about a coffee shop with a book focus

starbucks makes good money on people who just want to sit and read. A good
coffee shop niche would be adding in a library and encouraging people to
discuss books and such

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MatthewPhillips
Really tough sale, I'm not sure what value-add a "book store" can provide over
a coffee shop.

Here's one idea: the customer pays a monthly membership. Any books they buy at
the book store are shipped to the store and shelved for the customer. The
customer can come in at any time and read their books or take them home. This
is basically a privatized library. Maybe it could help with some of the
problems libraries have.

But that's a very small niche. I'm not sure what a book store can provide that
a coffee shop + kindle combination cannot.

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joahua
Nice article. Interestingly, there's been a bit of buzz about Amazon finding
local mail-holders (or distribution partners, or whatever) for "not home"
deliveries. I think I saw an article somewhere today about a partnership with
7-Eleven stores - obviously, extending this to local bookstores could make
lots of sense for everyone concerned (Amazon, customers, and local businesses
who drive sales to Amazon).

The kiosk idea is interesting but would want some kind of transparent proxy to
insert affiliate IDs, perhaps?

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bugsy
Amazon's book deliveries don't require a signature. They are waiting on the
front porch or the mailbox depending on which carrier was used.

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Tichy
I wonder about the future of shops in general. It is nice to be able to see
some products in reality before you buy them, but even now it is typical to
seek shopping advice in a shop, then order from the cheapest internet vendor.

Could it be viable to create "look only" shops that only facilitate online
sales? Maybe a lot of producers would even be willing to hand out the display
merchandise for free?

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camelite
I work in a small bookstore/coffee-shop in a smallish commuter town and
there's one massive thing the author is missing out on: if you order from
Amazon you don't get the @40% margin that forms the bulk of your profits.
Having said that, I don't know anything about the Amazon affiliate fees
programme - I imagine it'd be a very small cut?

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michaelfeathers
I can only imagine that if bookstores started charging admission, big
publishers would want a piece of it.

One other model that the article doesn't mention is evolving bookstores into
'show rooms' for books and ebooks. In a way, they are already for many people
who use Amazon.

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halo
I've often wondered why Amazon doesn't partner with coffee shops. Amazon
delivers a small library of free books to coffee shops, and partners with
publishers to provide free promotional copies of their books.

Win/win/win.

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lettergram
Darwinism at its finest, find your niche or die.

