The Observation Deck

I have once again been in conversations with a couple individuals that would like to try a bookstore in Lakewood. Their thoughts were to stay away from the food court district, and
go to Madison Village, where they have found some storefronts to their liking, and really like
the feel of the foot traffic in the area.

So the question is...

Does Lakewood need a bookstore?

And if the answer is yes, is it a Borders or a Coventry Books?

I have seen many come and go, of all kinds, and have to give these people credit for coming
into Lakewood, and deciding to give it a shot. Possibly. They also mentioned they would not
mind moving within walking distance of the store.

Thoughts?


.

_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama

I have toyed around with the book store issue myself. I kept saying I wanted a small, intimate book store and maybe a coffee house with it. But small, quiet and relaxing. Bean bags in the corners, small tables to relax. A book store where you can get used, new and super old hard to find books.

_________________
www.alldogsheaven.org

www.teamspin.com

IMHO, no.

Small, independent bookstores are not a long-term, or maybe even medium-term, viable business. With the Amazon and all the big retail booksellers, and libraries there's just not a long-term place for small bookstores. And don't forget Books-a-Million and Half Priced Books.

Their only hope is to offer something completely unique that doesn't necessarily rely on books as the main driver.

And statistics are showing an accelerating pace towards e-books. I'm sure we're still awhile away from that becoming predominant, but the direction is clearly set at this point. And as more people move to e-books, that means even less business for anyone who isn't Amazon, Borders, B&N, or a library.

The "idea" of a bookstore is appealing, I'm just not sure the economics work out.

The cost of the inventory is the problem.
If its just a place to enjoy your ebooks....then maybe.
Like Brian said...the books can not be the driver.
It costs too much $$

_________________
"Dont it always seem to go
That you dont know what youve got
Till its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot"
Joni Mitchell

now if you could bring your dog...that is another story...

_________________
"Dont it always seem to go
That you dont know what youve got
Till its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot"
Joni Mitchell

Exactly, a comfy place to read books, maybe a small inventory to sell, and where you could even bring your own books and enjoy some coffee or bakery would be a neat idea.

Think of it as the library with a few books for sale and actually being allowed to have something to drink. Or the Root with big comfy chairs.

And yes, dogs. I love dogs and wished I had one.

All

It is very funny that ou bring up these things. As I am sure you remember that one of the
things coming out of the VAL was the economic development/entrepreneur engine that
was very self sustaining and is now being implemented elsewhere, as this current regime
only has eyes for big box stores, and non-out of the box thinking. Though the city has taken
steps to counter that, but the uninspired gate keepers showed up to run that as well.

These folks had done the metrics, and there is a real case of new books not even worth
the effort. However there are many area that have great appeal in the used book field.
They were able to show quite handily what was still hot and selling in paper form and what
was not. But to make it as a used book store you need a pretty serious volume of stock.
Luckily, they have access to that, and experience. Of course they would be online as well,
but they are leaning towards an experience, for the reader of paper, not ebooks.

Brian, I would agree that the move is towards ebooks, but I could also show you some
shocking numbers on the digital divide, and the pull back from what are basically very
ungreen forms to get information out. Cool yes, succumbing to peer pressure yes, effective
not really when compared with other proven methods.

People like you and I develop a very myopic view of technology and the future. I am usually
surrounded by three computers, a smart phone, and various other technologies. I am
also defeated by them often, and held back. It was just about a month ago, that I was
sitting with a "high tech guru" as I was writing down notes he was pumping them into
his ipad, when suddenly it shut down. Overheating was the message, so we moved into
the shade. When it finally cooled off, the battery was dying so we moved inside so that
he could plug in.

Compare that with sitting in the afternoon sun along a river reading a book.

It is all a very interesting era to be in.

.

_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Yup, a small comfy place to read your books, right next door to The Root and across the street from Caribou and the library.

Perfect location!

_________________
"Hey Kiddo....this topic is much more important than your football photos, so deal with it." - Mike Deneen

Is it?

Next to the Root sure, but DowntowN has brought in two things sorely missing into those
DowntowN spots. A hair saloon and a cell phone store. Guess no burger places left.

I have to give these folks credit, they realize that a small store will not make it. Coventry
Books has three floors of books. You have to be able to cater to a wide audience, so that
it can be made up in volume.

But Coventry Books is next to Tommy's, and could also be seen as a destination on their
own. More than once a friend has said, let's hit Coventry Books, for some strange
psychology, finance, economic, cook, history book.

CB also has comfortable chairs, and places to sit. Bu not many.


.

_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama

I pretty much echo Bryan's thoughts.

I think we all like the "concept" of having a bookstore. But, as evidenced by the comments, the only agreement seems to be coffee and bakery.

I find myself going to Books A Million because of a wide selection, which only deep pockets can afford to stock.

And, I just recently installed the Kindle Reader on my computers because I really think that is the direction that I will be taking.

Stan

Unfortunately I would have to say no, I do not believe that would be viable.

I am not sure the deamnd is there in the area and what would make people stop there instead of the other larger existing bookstores mentioned above. As well, there really isn't that much "consumer" foot traffic in the Madison Village area.

It seems an uphill struggle. Some have survived:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idCNN171 ... 817?rpc=44

J Hrlec

Actually the foot traffic at night is not what it could be, but it is not as dead as many other
areas. Maybe it could be the first step in recovery from when the city ran Chris Andrews out.

There is space, though my friend just grabbed Chain Link Addiction's spot two weeks ago.
It is not a walk in business, but he said he could get it for less than a warehouse!

Baby steps, in bringing back the area.


Bill

It brings a smile to my face every time I hear papers cannot make it in this age.

.

_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama

I like reading books, not screens. There is just something about the act of holding a book that I find pleasant. So for pleasure reading, I buy books.

But for information and research, books become obsolete too quickly, often even before they are printed, so I have gone digital for those purposes. The digital media is not without fault, they often do not clean up after themselves, and you may find information about an interesting restaurant, for example, only to go there and find they have been gone for a year, but that is a problem with printed materials also.

The newspaper industry is indeed troubled, with respected papers going out of business or going digital (The Christian Science Monitor). Staffs have been slashed and there is little direct coverage of national and international news, much less local news. I've canceled all of my newspapers, as they are more and more collections of ads with a few news items, often wrong. Bookstores are next; Barnes and Noble announced this week that they are getting out of the business, although it is possible that part of their business will be bought by someone else and continued. I only go to bookstores now because I grew up liking books, and I like to see before I buy. But the online marketers are doing a better job of marketing. If you go to Amazon, for example, you get a wide selection, with each having reviews from previous buyers. If you go to Borders they may or may not have the book, and they certainly don't have any people who can give informed opinions about it. but they do have coffee.

I just don't see a small bookstore being a viable enterprise, unless they find a niche, such as dealing in rare and collectible books.

_________________
Society in every state is a blessing, but the Government even in its best state is but a necessary evil...

I think there is an attractive niche for a comfy bookstore as a "third place."

But as far as the Big Boxes...talk about white elephants.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/are-bo ... 2010-08-17