I'm sure most fans of the written word have noticed that book stores aren't doing that well these days, or at least they aren't in my area. There are still lots of them, but they seem to be slowly closing down from the smallest on up. One particularly large one that had been an institution in my city for decades closed just last year, and is now being turned into condos. Yay. I've also noticed that book stores are turning into all-purposes stores. The last time I went in one of the larger book stores in the area there was furniture, glassware, dishware, toys, electronics, and lots of other stuff you wouldn't have seen in a book store a decade ago. I wonder how long it'll be before some of these chains are just department stores. What's your take? Are book stores a dying breed? Or have you noticed different trends in your area?
I do agree that physical bookstores are indeed slowly dying out. One by one, they seem to be lowering their shutters for good, and I cannot blame the owners seeing how most people nowadays all own a Kindle, or tablet etc. that allows them to be reading ebooks. It also does not help that ebooks are often much cheaper than physical copies of a book. Bookstores in my area have also slowly expanded into selling stationery, music albums etc. when they were purely bookstores in the past. I guess that is just a way for them to increase their revenue and to stay in business. I still prefer my physical books and I do hope that bookstores survive in time to come for our future generations to enjoy!
They won't completely die out at leas not for a while because they'll still sell textbooks but since the business of selling textbooks is seasonal [at the beginning of the year or semester] to make money through the year they have to sell more than just books. That's probably why they are starting to sell both books and other stuff. Business is all about making profits after all, doesn't really matter what you sell.
@Denis Hard, yes it is true that they are still selling textbooks. However, if you take a look at major publishers such as Elsevier for example, they are encouraging customers to purchase electronic versions of their textbooks by throwing in perks such as additional online only material. Sooner or later, physical textbooks would also be a thing of the past. I mean for the average student, would you rather have an electronic copy of your textbook you can bring everywhere with you on your iPad, or would you want to lug a 5kg hardcover copy of it? While I love my hardcopy books, I just feel that if I was a student and all I bothered about was saving money and convenience, I would go for the easier ebook version.
If publishers are beginning to entice their customers to buy Ebooks then I suppose this does sound the death knell for Book Stores. Maybe next time they [the publishers] will be printing books only when a customer orders a printed book. Change is inevitable and book store owners have to embrace that fact.
I'm one of those people who have taken to buying more eBooks than actual physical books. These days I seldom go into a book store or even a library, so I don't know how much 'damage' the advent of eBooks has affected book stores. I have always said that I believe that although this may not mean books will go extinct, it would ultimately impact them considerably.
Physical book stores are struggling because e-books are cheaper and easier to store. However, good ones will remain and some genres will have to have physical books. Art and photography books, childrens' illustrated books and will always be better as physical books. Even in the publishing world, if a book is not available in a physical edition then it is not eligible for competitions, so authors still need to have those available to the masses.
E-books are massive these days. Even students in schools use e-books already. My niece though still has traditional paper books. So I think book stores are still not dying, they're holding up, though not as well as before. For book lovers, nothing beats reading books the traditional way. But even other book lovers are resorting to e-books nowadays, using Nook or Kindle or iBooks. It's anybody's guess where the book stores are going.
I don't think it's dying but just evolving. I think people will always like to sit down somewhere and just read a good non electronic book. A few of our big local bookstores have closed but a few more were built in their place. We have a big brand bookstore now that has lots of extras inside like coffee shops and yogurt shops, and I think this presence will just extend the lifespan of bookstores and physical books in general in our local area for at least a few years more. Im guessing it's inevitable that everyone will switch to digitally distributed books in the future, but hopefully not too soon.
I think we are at the time where we are moving from one main medium to another. The way we get our information that is. Sad that bookstores are closing down, but I am sure there would still be customers. This might turn bookstores into niche markets though if current trends continue. I am sure that there will still be a market for the physical medium in a few more years.. I for one prefer to read on paper than on a tablet..
I like to go into bookstores to browse and breathe the new-book-scent. I like to chill in their coffee shops, buy coffee & dessert, and soak up the free wifi. Barnes & noble has been emphasizing their coffee area for a while and I think that might help them. There's profit margin on the drinks and because people with a nook can read free chapters to test out a story/author while within the store's wifi, they have incentive to go to the store to shop for digital books. I buy my books in digital form or on the rare occasion that I need a physical copy, from amazon. I'll probably miss book stores when they're gone but I do think they're dying out.
I do like to read and use to go to the library at least once a week just to see what books were available. I am sad to say I do not go to the library any more, I get my books online or I listen to books online because I do not have time to really read a book but I can listen while I work. There has been one large store closed in my area, I do miss that store, I would go there just to have a place to go, it had coffee and goodies and jazz available. Often there would be live music at the store also. I do miss the community that was a part of that store.
There's only one dedicated bookstore in my city now too. It's not just that e-readers have become popular, the major supermarket chains have now taken to stocking all the bestsellers at a reduced price. You can now pick up the latest book along with your groceries. People will always choose the lowest price and as these supermarkets have so much more buying power, they are undercutting the bookstores significantly.
Ever since I got my Kindle I only go to bookstores to browse books that seem interesting enough to buy later. Don't get me wrong, I love reading a good paperback as much as the next person, but the amount of books I have in my Kindle would cause clutter in physical form. I think a lot of people think the same way I do, which is why bookstores are quickly dropping in popularity.
About 5 years ago, I have predicted that printed reading materials will be out of the scene, the books and newspapers. I may be wrong with the time but definitely fewer books are being printed since the internet is rife with book materials. We used to have a subscription of newspaper but my husband now reads the online version of the newspaper so he rarely buys (only for the crossword puzzle).
I think that they're taking a hit, but I doubt that bookstores will completely die out - at least not for a while. Until phones and other devices become cheaper, people will continue to buy physical books. Its also important to consider people's taste in this matter. Most people I know (including myself) prefer reading books from physical copies. As long as people see buying physical books as a benefit rather than a cost, I think that bookstores will survive for quite some time.
It's sad that this is the case. I don't think that's happening around here. There are many people young and old who still love to buy real books. I think it may be getting that way because of technology like kindles, which I don't like. I'd rather read a real book. But we have Barnes N Nobles and it's thriving. Every time I go there, there are a ton of people browsing and checking out. I don't see them going anywhere anytime soon. They have such a huge selection too even for kids so their stores are really helpful. Even the bookstore in my tiny hometown has been open for a long time and doesn't seem like it'll go anywhere. I hope they don't and I'm sad to hear that yours are.
A lot of the younger people I know don't even read. It's really sad. Those who do, read electronic versions only. I love to read, and so does my whole family, with the exception of the younger generation. I never would have thought that would happen in my family, since the entire extended family has always loved to read. I guess they prefer to be spoonfed via movies and television shows, rather than having to use their imaginations. I do like having the availability of e-books, mainly for convenience and no shipping fees, but there's nothing like having a physical book to look at and hold, to bring back memories of past books read, and time spent in libraries and book stores. I don't have a lot of money to spend on books these days, which is why I've been using the library, but I love spending time among the books either in a bookstore or library. I don't mind having the bookstore connected to a coffee shop and having related items sold such as book holders, and maybe even e-readers and cases, but I'm not sure how I feel about other items such as glassware and decor. I guess the stores are simply doing what they have to do to survive, but I hope there is a resurgence and bookstores once again become as popular as they once were.
I agree that little by little, traditional book stores are closing down. Unable to remain competitive in the age of ebooks and digital book readers. Although stores that sell both books and different products such as pens, stationary, papers, etc. are still booming. In business, it's never a good thing to depend on a single type of product, and technology usually catches up with everything. Traditional books wouldn't die though. They'd continue to live because reading stories from a traditional book is way better than reading from the screen of a tablet.
I'm really a fan of books, always have been and it's sad to see how the book industry is struggling to keep up with technology. To be honest, i'm also more of an ebook reader now but i still buy physical books from time to time especially if the book is really good to support the author. I don't think book stores will die out completely though and that's really good to know.
