Bad, but not unexpected. The shop had been losing money for a while, and when the government introduced the GST and refused to exempt books, raising the prices by 10% and the paperwork by a s***load, we knew that would be the last straw for the owners.
Yeah. I think that the lease negotiations were the last straw for the owner. I am going to have to grill all my co-workers for gossip soon! Unfortunatly, there is only ever one person in the store, so I have to corner whoever replaces me.
Even though I work for a large chain, I recognize the importance of smaller, indie stores. It's such a shame that large chains are running these little corner book nooks out of business.
I think the internet has made used bookstores less viable --especially those that did quite a bit of business with antiquarian or collectible stock. So many collectors have moved to the internet. Every book bought or sold on the net this year would have been bought or sold to a bookstore ten years ago. Plus, it's changed buying behavior --many sales in the nineties were due to inefficiencies in the market. Someone buying a book in poorer condition than they wanted or a different edition or a similar book, because what they wanted was not available. Now, so much more is available. Also, people used to stock up if they some an out-of-print author they might want to read, now they don't because they know it will be available when they want it.
Every book bought or sold on the net this year would have been bought or sold to a bookstore ten years ago.
Possibly, but would those books have found buyers from the bookstore?
I'm a big fan of browsing and serendipitous finds, but I have found a number of books I've longed for online, from indie booksellers who wouldn't have gotten my business because they're states (or continents) away. And some friends of mine bought the stock of an in-the-red bookstore and made it viable with an online presence.
Oh! So sad. I'm so sorry. My childhood store, which I later worked at for 9 years, closed. It was very sad; sort of like losing a family member.
But that being said, I've gone on to work at a couple of lovely stores, and many of the people from that original store came with me, and we still work together.
My family's bookstore is part of a small franchise that is slowly going under, because it turns out the guy who owns it is a con-artist! So, I've seen a couple of the other stores go under, and my mother is actually counting down the days until everything's paid off, and she can close the store. She isn't as fond of it as she was when we opened :) I'll hate it when we close, though.
I hope you find another job as enjoyable as the one you have already<3
My family's store closed after 45+ years in business. I carry on (alone) with online-only sales. Closing the store I'd grown up in was very, very difficult. Independent used/antiquarian stores are going the way of the dinosaur.
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Even though I work for a large chain, I recognize the importance of smaller, indie stores. It's such a shame that large chains are running these little corner book nooks out of business.
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Every book bought or sold on the net this year would have been bought or sold to a bookstore ten years ago.
Possibly, but would those books have found buyers from the bookstore?
I'm a big fan of browsing and serendipitous finds, but I have found a number of books I've longed for online, from indie booksellers who wouldn't have gotten my business because they're states (or continents) away. And some friends of mine bought the stock of an in-the-red bookstore and made it viable with an online presence.
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But that being said, I've gone on to work at a couple of lovely stores, and many of the people from that original store came with me, and we still work together.
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I hope you find another job as enjoyable as the one you have already<3
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Too bad about your store! Hope it closes smoothly, if it must.
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