

The Man Who Took on Amazon and Saved a Bookstore - wyclif
http://www.forbes.com/sites/philjohnson/2012/05/10/the-man-who-took-on-amazon-and-saved-a-bookstore/

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sbisker
Oh please. I go to that bookstore all the time, and I can assure you it's not
the "digital printing press" that keeps them afloat. I've never seen a single
person mention it or use it.

What they are doing, and which the article really skims over, is constantly
offering things that you simply _can't_ find at Amazon. They have a
comprehensive, well curated staff review section. Their "New Fiction" and "New
Non-fiction" is filled with carefully selected books that people wouldn't be
able to find just from looking at the NYT Best Sellers list. (Indeed, their
NYT Best Sellers rack is given less than prime real estate.) They're
constantly holding book signings, poetry readings and other such things to
engage the community (which the article mentions quickly, in fairness). And
they also have a floor dedicated entirely to used books - the only general
used book store in all of Harvard Square.

The competition that Amazon crushed, B&N, Borders, and the like - they tried
_none_ of those things.

This bookstore didn't do anything more special than actually _work hard_ to
beat Amazon. Oh, and they also picked a location literally across from Harvard
Yard, filled with a constantly rotating customer base with a penchant for
reading. That helped too.

I'd like to see a chain really try to differentiate itself from Amazon through
similar hard work - picking places where people obviously _want_ to buy books,
and offering them a great bookstore that differs from Amazon in scalable,
consistent ways.

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djacobs
As an avid fan of Harvard Bookstore, I can say you're 100% right.

They also host philosophical society there on a quasi-weekly basis, and great
people show up for quality discussion. The last time I went was for the
machine intelligence chat, and who did I see across from me? Richard Stallman,
ready to share his take on AI.

Harvard Bookstore is quality, that's why they're thriving.

(One more tip, they don't carry technical books, which are the ever-changing
ones that I would normally order on Amazon. Good move on their part.)

~~~
dsrguru
Do you happen to remember what Richard Stallman said?

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djacobs
He was part of the conversation, not a speaker, so he wasn't necessarily
talking about one theme.

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telemachos
I love the Harvard Bookstore, but the Cambridge neighborhood (or maybe Boston
more generally?) may be a bit unusual.

Cambridge also supports an outstanding independent bookstore focused on books
in foreign languages (Schoenhof's[1]), a small poetry-only independent
bookstore right around the corner from The Harvard Bookstore (Grolier Poetry
Bookshop[2]) and a used bookstore with a focus on scholarly books (Raven
Books[3]).

Raven is newer (the Cambridge branch opened only in 2005), and both Grolier
and Schoenhof's are less well-stocked than they once were (I've been visiting
Cambridge more or less yearly since around 1992), but _they still exist_.
Comparable places in so many other cities are just gone.

 _Edit_ : Reading the commenters who live in Boston talk about "the carnage"
in their local book scene makes me think "the grass is always greener". Where
I live (NYC) I only notice the dead or dying bookstores, but Boston always
seems relatively thriving when I visit.

[1]: <http://www.schoenhofs.com/>

[2]: <http://grolierpoetrybookshop.org/blog2/>

[3]: <http://www.ravencambridge.com/>

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jaems33
I still prefer going to bookstores like to aimlessly peruse than to
efficiently click through links and read Amazon reviews. It's also a much
needed respite from a digital display.

Furthermore, there's a nice comforting feeling being physically around others
who appreciate reading.

/gettingold

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memset
This is truly excellent!

As we are finding with photographs, there is still a desire for people to have
physical analog manifestations of things they look at and read. There is a
quality (not so hash on the eyes) and convenience (no batteries, cords,
worrying about getting them wet, etc) to these things that technology has not
yet replicated.

What is also great here is the use of on-demand creation. The Espresso book
machine is the 3D printer of printing; there no longer seems to be a need to
make these things in huge quantities and let them sit in warehouses. Well,
maybe there was when people were buying more print books (citation needed) but
there seems to be a market for which that is not the case now. It also seems
like the price point seems to be reasonable enough that people might pay for
physical on-demand printed books.

Great stuff!

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cdcox
I'm curious about one line in this

"Imagine for a moment what it would feel like if people walked into your
company and used the lobby to call your competitors and buy their products.
That’s standard consumer behavior in a bookstore. People browse, find a book
they like, pull out their smart phone, and order online."

If this is the case why don't stores like B and N just offer free WiFi and add
an affiliate link to anyone going to Amazon. It would let you get some profit
from people buying on their phones in your store. My impression was you can
more or less redirect/adjust the traffic of anyone on your Wi-Fi. Is there
some ethical or logistic reason why Best Buy and B and N don't do this?

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X-Istence
I know from personal the experience the reason why I peruse a book store and
then buy from Amazon is simply the price. Having it available instantly
instead of waiting the 3 - 5 shipping turn around is nice and all, but it
isn't worth a markup of almost 25 - 40% over what I pay on Amazon.

I love book stores, and there have been quite a few that I've been to where
I've found books that Amazon simply didn't have and bought them, but overall
the price is too great of a difference to simply ignore.

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akg
An excellent example of embracing the changing technological landscape and
providing new value in addition to it. Now if only Hollywood would realize
this, stop mourning antiquated ways of doing business and provide new value
with the amazing technology that is available.

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medusa666
I used to love local, independent bookstores.

Then, when I wrote and published my own book, and learned a lot more about the
industry, I realized that the current book publishing and distribution model
makes no economic sense (unlimited returns!!??) and is fated to die.

Support your public library. Support online competition to Amazon. But the
brick and mortar bookstore, except for a very, very few, is history. Don't
mourn it. Create a better, different tomorrow.

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enthalpyx
"If you live in Cambridge and neighboring communities, you can order online
and get any book delivered the same day by an eco-friendly Metroped “pedal-
truck,” or a bicycle, as I like to call them. Beat that Amazon."

Here's how: any book, ever published, in 60 seconds or less. Kindle.

