In many ways, e-books have been a positive thing for book lovers. If you need a book to read, you can download one to your e-reader or tablet with the click of a button. You don’t need to leave the house, or wait for your order to come in the mail.
Even better, e-books are typically less expensive than the print versions of books. According to Frugal Wins, the average person will save around $600 per year by switching to e-books. That adds up to a considerable savings if you’re a regular book buyer, and as a result e-reader ownership is at an all-time high. According to the Pew Research Center, 50% of American adults have access to either a tablet or e-reader. Twenty-eight percent of adults have also read an e-book in the past year — that’s up 5% from the previous year and 11% from two years ago.
While many people love e-readers, the growth of the e-book industry is not without its downsides. One of the biggest consequences of the e-book craze is the decline of the physical bookstore. In places like New York City, which was once rampant with independent bookstores, small booksellers are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet. Some are surviving by moving their storefronts, but it’s all too common for once-popular stores to go out of business once and for all. Here are considerations for bookstores as they’re affected by the changing industry.
A Move to the Outer Boroughs
Admittedly, the rise of the e-book is only one of the problems small bookstores face. The ever-rising cost of renting a space in New York is also to be blamed. Just as more and more New Yorkers are moving to the outer boroughs in search of an affordable living space, so are bookstores looking for more reasonably priced locations. According to the New York Times, one bookstore owner, Sarah McNally of McNally Jackson, said rents for small spaces were upward of $40,000 a month in the city’s Upper West Side. With rates this high, it’s little wonder that owners would look for storefronts elsewhere.
Ms. McNally decided on a space in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Word Bookstore, another indie shop, also has a location in Brooklyn and just opened a second store in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Closing Up Shop
With rising costs and decreasing profits, some booksellers have been forced to close their stores altogether. Some examples include Coliseum Books, Endicott Booksellers, and Books and Company. Others have at least had to cut a location. Shakespeare and Company, which has locations downtown and on the East Side, had to close its store on the Upper West Side.
Pricier Merchandise to Cover Costs
One fear among indie booksellers is that stores may have to cater to the rich in order to stay in business. One of the hallmark traits of indie bookstores is that anyone can come in, browse around and choose the book they want to buy. The idea here is one of democracy — of books for everyone — and if everyone is free to browse the books, almost everyone should be able to buy them.
Some sellers worry that to stay in business they’ll eventually have to carry more products with higher profit margins, such as hardbacks and leather-bound notebooks. In the future, could it be that you’d have to win a fortune in online gaming just to buy books from an indie store?
Publisher-Run Bookstores?
One interesting idea in the changing industry is the concept of publisher-run bookstores. Years ago, many trade publishers owned their own bookstores — you could walk down Fifth Avenue and see stores run by publishers like Scribner or Doubleday. The stores closed for various reasons, such as the rise of chain bookstores like Barnes & Noble and the fact that many publishers were acquired by larger companies in the past few decades. Scribner and Doubleday are now imprints of Simon & Schuster and Random House, respectively.
However, given the current economy, it’s likely that publisher-owned bookstores could come back in the future. Large trade publishers like Hachette and Random House are already located in Midtown, where rising rents have forced out many independent book shops. Also, a number of companies already own their own printers. Why not streamline the process further and sell books right from the publishers’ stores?
A Call for Government Intervention
Some readers and store owners believe the government should intervene to help indie booksellers. They see the closing of bookstores as being detrimental to New York City culture and feel it’s the government’s responsibility to prevent it from happening in the future. As some point out, Mayor DeBlasio was a fervent supporter of small business during his campaign. Wouldn’t it make sense for him to support small bookstores, especially since they’re so iconic to the city and its history?
What do you think about the decline of indie bookstores? Would you miss your local bookstore if it went out of business? Do you think the government should help keep stores open?