Biz: Independent booksellers collectively freaking out over future
- We have to figure out how we stay in the game. You have to rethink your whole business model, because the old ways really aren’t going to cut it anymore.
- Manhattan’s Bank Street Bookstore director, Beth Puffer • Discussing the fate of the independent bookseller at the Winter Institute, the equivalent of Bonnaroo for independent bookstores. While the number of independent bookstores has stabilized in recent years after Barnes & Noble and Borders ate their lunch, many changes are on the horizon – some bad enough to take out the big kids in the industry like Borders. Now, what was once an endeavor of stacking books on a shelf and organizing sections is a matter that requires much more – social media, cool Web sites, the whole thang. But, as important as this stuff is becoming, it can’t be everything. “At a certain point, I begin to feel like we don’t need more PR,” said Connecticut-based bookseller RJ Julia’s founder and president, Roxanne Coady. “We need sales.” source
