Bestsellers are important. Hits like The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code generate the profits that make it possible for Borders stores to carry more eclectic titles that might sit on the shelf awhile before finding a home. But bookstores aren't the only place to buy bestsellers. Books are becoming a hot commodity for a variety of retailers: The latest John Grisham book can generally be found in big stacks at Sam's Club or at the checkout at Meijer.
And then there's the Internet. In 1999, I was working for Borders.com. Back then, the company got hammered by the press and by Wall Street for being late to enter the virtual bookselling game—an enterprise then regarded as a license to print money. Five years later, everyone has learned that turning a profit on the Web is easier said than done. I still work for Borders in an electronic capacity—I manage the company's e-mail newsletters—but Borders.com is no longer an independent entity. It is, instead, a partnership with Amazon.com.
That doesn't mean that Borders has no virtual presence (there are the aforementioned e-mail newsletters, and customers can search the stacks and check out in-store events at www.BordersStores.com). But there's a magic to bookselling that can't be digitized or quantified. The best bookstores don't just deliver products to customers. Instead, they fulfill cultural needs both personal and communal. This is why the hometown of one of the world's biggest bookstore chains continues to boast a vital and varied array of independent booksellers. Read more…
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