Bookslut on the Independents vs. the Chains

January 30th, 2003 | brain-candy

The always-excellent Bookslut site has terrific conversation between two of the site’s principals, Jessica (the bookslut) and Michael, about the advantages and disadvantages of the two major types of bookstores: the independent store and the chain store.

They particularly go off on one local (Austin, TX)independent/feminist/lesbian bookstore called Bookwoman. Jessica — a woman — was looking for

a book about gay studies. Lesbian and male. It happened to be written by a man. This was for the Sexuality Education Center I worked at, and they knew I was from there. I read the title and the author and I was told, “We wouldn’t have that, because that’s by a man.” And I said, “Yes, I know, that’s why I’m asking you to order it.” And when I went into pick it up, she said, “Oh, you’re the one who ordered the book by the man.”

M: Oh my God. So they don’t carry any male authors?

J: None.

I must admit, I approach articles like this with quite a bit of trepidation. I’ve worked in indy stores and in the big chains, my wife has managed multi-million dollar stores for both of the big chains. Usually, these kinds of articles are so full of the “spirit” of the independent and the soul-crushing evilness and conformity of the chains. Not so for this article.

Both participants in the conversation were very realistic, bringing up pluses and minuses for both types of store. Besides the “Mom & Pop”-store-killing aspects of the chains, most of their ire was reserved for the local indy stores. Indies used to have the monopoly on “alternative-lifestyle” books, but now, “All bookstores, even bookstores in fucking Kansas have gay studies sections…” Indies don’t have the selection of the big stores: “The small bookstores don’t have the space, so they tend to go for what they think will sell. The big bookstores can put anything they want.”

Besides the selection, they also talk about the employment practices of the stores:

J: …For an independent bookstore to say they’re better than the chains, they should a) pay their employees better; b) I don’t know if they offer health care, but I’ll go out on a limb and guess no; c) and hire people who know something about literature.

M: And Borders does. My brother worked at Borders, and they gave you a test. And they name books and you are asked to name the author. It’s not all easy. It’s not all John Grisham and Danielle Steele. They ask you about Kathy Acker. They really want to make sure people know their stuff. And the people who work there, there are a lot of graduate students, a lot of college students who are really smart. They’ve helped me find stuff before.

J: When I first moved to Austin I got applications for the bookstores, and Borders offered a higher pay baseline than any of the independents.

Good article. Makes much sense.

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hmmm, does this remind anyone else of the movie “You’ve Got Mail”?
http://www.genevity.com/sheep evano

I’m ashamed to say (not really!) that I’ve never seen the movie. One Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan star-crossed love story (Sleepless in Seattle) is enough for one lifetime. And, as a long-time internet user/snob, the AOL reference in the title forced me to stay away. Was it any good? Were there any cute kids?

The thing that got me about the article was the way they refused to romanticize the indie bookstore. The one I worked in on Long Island had a pretty limited selection and the owner kept bitching and moaning about the chains, while, down the street there was another indie store with a great selection, computerized inventory, music, a cafe, and designs on expansion. The store I worked in is gone now for seven years, while the other indie is still doing great, despite the arrival of a B&N, a Borders, a Starbucks and a Tower Records within 7 miles. There’s nothing romantic about poor business planning.
http://www.amber.org/~petrilli/ petrilli

One thing I’ve noticed is that indy booksellers often have more attitude than anything. The one exception, and I’m lucky to have it so close to me, is Politics & Prose in Washington, DC. I’ve never seen people so knowledgable about the books they carry, as well as those they don’t. You can walk in, and mention a vague story line, or that it was reviewed by someone in some random magazine, and 95% of the time, they’ll be able to tell you who it was, and even make recommendations of real books that might be of interest—not just the current “slow movers.”

Unfortunately, that’s a rarity.