On Feb 15, 12:55=A0pm, RF <fwdi...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On Feb 15, 12:14=A0pm, "Francis A. Miniter" <mini...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> wrote:
>
> > My mother was a book collector. =A0Whenever there was a big sale (such
a=
s the
> > annual Smith College sale in Hartford, Connecticut, which took up an
ent=
ire
> > armory or field house), she would take me. =A0I was in my mid-teens
(ear=
ly '60s)
> > at the time. =A0Then I watched as in her retirement she subscribed to
AB=
Bookman's
> > Weekly and sent out quotes to sell books she had.
>
> How the used book business has changed in the intervening decades.
> AB Bookman is gone and lamented.
> Used book shops have pretty much gone the way of the buggy whip.
> The internet has become the option of choice for the majority of
> people seeking new and OOP books.
There are still a great many people
who don't equate enjoyable book browsing
means scrolling down lists of books on a computer
screen. However, it is certainly true that quite
a few used bookstores -- probably at least half
of those which were around in 2000 --in Southern
California have gone out of business. In many
cases, though, those stores were owned by
people who were computer-clueless and
not even on line. Being on-line and
well-informed of the internet book venues is
no guarantee of used bookstore success,
but it is absolutely necessary for a used
bookstore owner who wants to stay in business.
I don't patronize every bookstore in Southern
California, but the ones I do visit nowadays
are run by intelligent, on-line people.
Anyway, I would certainly agree that used
bookstores which are not on-line have "gone
the way of the buggy whip," at least in this
region.
[Memo from the upstairs office.]
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