Plight of Independent bookstores

We have read about this doomsday scenario before. There were another two reports over the holiday season this week. The first one, a Reuters report, Competition is killing independent US bookstores, and another from The Guardian, Price wars come at a cost.

The first report basically laments how independent bookstore in the US are closing their doors, unable to withstand the marketing pressures of the superstores. The reprot says: Since the early 1990s the number of independent bookstores in the United States has halved to about 2,500, according to a report in The New York Times.

The arguments for independent bookstores are the same throughout the world. As Kate Bearce, who is closing her bookstore after 12 years of business, says :"... (that) consumer needed to be educated about the importance of small businesses in the local economy. She said the customer will ultimately lose. "Customer service is not the same . When somebody walks in this store I know them ... I have many customers that tell me, 'If I send my kids to you, I know you will provide them with appropriate titles."' She added that this kind of service cannot be duplicated at the bigger bookstores and discount outlets.

The argument in The Guardian is somewhat more interesting and maybe more pertinent to the Malaysian industry. It states that price wars come at a cost, and the consumer usually pays the cost without realising it. Big chain stores can and do demand huge discounts from publishers for 'front lists', book industry parlance for new titles. Independent bookshop owners cannot dream of such deals. Big chains use discounts to attract customers. But has the consumer really checked the prices of the non-discounted books? Of the backlist?

We at Silverfish Books, have had several customers ask why prices at certain bookstores are higher than ours, citing a markup being as much as 180% in some cases! We were baffled at first because the distributors fix the prices. Then we realised what was happening. One cannot defy gravity. Money lost at'loss leaders' will have to be recovered elsewhere.

One clever Malaysian reader advises: Buy your latest titles from mega-stores at a nice discount, your back lists at an independent, and wait for warehouse sales or the real bargains (though it will depend on your luck).

Original articles:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061227/media_nm/usa_bookstores_dc
http://books.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1977899,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=10