My Mother recently broke up with her bookstore, leaving it and their problems behind for a relationship with Amazon Prime. The breakup wasn’t acrimonious—at least not on the part of the bookstore, it probably won’t even notice she’s gone—but it was necessary. For years she’d been supporting it when it didn’t go out of its way to meet her book needs.
Specifically, her need for the stock to get out of the back on time.
All relationships are give and take—even retail ones where often it seems there is more giving on one side than another. In return for consistently good customer service and a clean and well stocked environment, you, the customer, will forgive the occasional foible like a mis-alphabetized section, a book out of place or one that does not make it on the floor at all. But when these problems become the norm the store you once happily visited becomes the schlub boyfriend on the couch who watches TV while you do all the work: special ordering all the books you want to guarantee that the store will get them in, re-alphabetizing its sections when you look for the title you long for, and going back and giving it money even when you know there are better options available.
For my Mother, the situation was made worse by the fact that she felt loyalty to this store. It was part of a Chain that I’d previously worked for, and one that many of her friends had worked for as well. While none of us had worked at this particular location, we’d enabled her relationship with it during our time with the company. My first boss, her friend, had a policy that all book shipments would be out on the floor and shelved within twenty-four hours of their arrival, so if Mom’s boyfriend bookstore couldn’t produce she knew where else to go in the company. My coworkers were used to taking my Mother’s orders from this press or that on the phone, and I would make deliveries of these titles on the weekends when I visited, thus supplementing her dealings with the boyfriend bookstore as well. The boyfriend bookstore would then occasionally wow her by getting a title in before either of her other stores, and play the hero despite its past inconsistent shelving practices.
But with the friend now working at a store too far away and with me no longer with the company, the boyfriend bookstore’s shortcomings became obvious: the stock she wanted was always “in the backroom” with no effort made to retrieve it, there were never enough people manning the counter to move the lines through, and her shopping section of choice—Romance—was always mis-shelved and forlorn looking. Still, it took her almost half a year to let go.
Like most long term relationships, I’m sure she’ll see the boyfriend bookstore again. Maybe she’ll visit it because she’s in the area—just to browse, of course, not to buy. Maybe she’ll think of it around the holidays when she needs to fulfill her gift card needs for the cousins. But the long term relationship marked by once or twice a week shopping trips with list in hand is over, she’s moved on to an online love that proves its generous book staple with the twice weekly visits by the UPS man to the house.
She’s found a way to keep her book needs fulfilled, and I’m happy for her.
Breaking up with a bookstore is hard to do—they often have proximity going for them—but there are other options. Most Chains and Independents would bend over backwards to get your business even if you’re asking for books they don’t usually carry. All the booksellers I know love to work from lists, whether it be ordering from them or just finding the store’s copies because it gives us an idea of your shopping tastes, all you have to do is ask. And if that makes you feel uncomfortable, Amazon and Powells are there for you online as well as many other book search engines specializing in both new and used titles.
My Mother is not alone. We’ve all had to break up with a bookstore or two, sometimes not by choice but because we’re moving away or it’s closing, and other times for the betterment of our reading health. Either way the process is hard and often long in coming, but it is a sign that we’ve learned we want more, deserve better, and if enough customers walk away maybe the bookstore will see the error in its ways, whatever those ways may be.
So, what’s caused you to breakup with a bookstore and how long did it take? We all have different breaking points. Feel free to share your stories in the comments below.
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Sadly, just lack of inventory has forced me to stop my once a week Sunday excursion to a bookstore to enjoy a liesurely afternoon shopping. It used to be a family event. The kids, hubby and I used to make our lists and then head out. We would leave with hundreds of dollars of books. Then we noticed something happening. It became harder and harder to find books on the list. We’d leave more and more frustrated. There would be umpteen copies of bestsellers and reprints of best sellers, but nothing else.
Finally, after two weeks in a row in which none of us could find a book, we stopped the weekly excursion and just bought what we wanted online. We miss the weekly excursion, but do not miss the frustration. And, we buy through amazon. I did stop in at a bookstore last week since we were in the area. I wanted a couple books that had been released the week before. They didn’t have either but would be happy to order it if I wanted to wait a week more. (I didn’t seeing as I could have them the next day through amazon) They were well stocked on 20 year old back list of several big name authors though. *sigh* It was depressing to not be able to find anything else in such a large store.
Savvy readers know when books are released. Chain bookstores should realize this and be prepared. I preorder almost all my new books through a local indie bookseller. She orders bi-weekly and I’m rarely without the new books I’m looking to read. Works for me.
Mwah ha ha! Another convert crosses over! One day we shall have you all!
The last figure I heard was that only 3 percent of book purchases are made online, which boggles my mind. I had all of the above complaints and then some, but the straw that broke it for me was parking. My book store was in a teeny tiny shopping center with a Lowe’s and a PetSmart, and its tiny wedge of the parking lot was barely adequate. Then they tossed up a Chuck E. Cheese on a spare patch of grass they SHOULD have used to extend the existing parking. When you come out of a store, find you can’t move your car because some buffoon has PARKED in the lane behind you (and it’s not the only buffoon–there’s not a navigable inch of asphalt in sight), have to go into the bowels of Hell and raise a little of it to locate the buffoon in question and drag said buffoon away from lousy pizza and a stupid game, and said buffoon gets rude with YOU about it, just so you can get home to hopefully enjoy the book you went through so much hassle to acquire…
No. It’s not worth it. Point. Click. Deliver. I can easily spend $25 to get free shipping every time, and my TBR is dense enough that I can wait a few days for a delivery.
I shop B&N online because with a membership card, B&N credit card discount, and the coupons they’re endlessly emailing me, they come off slightly cheaper than Amazon. I do use the Amazon wishlist for storage, though, because B&N’s 25-item limit is completely inadequate.
In 2002 I broke away from what was my favorite bookstore, Barnes & Nobles because we moved from Columbus Ohio to Bowie Texas which has no bookstore at all. You have to travel 50-100 miles 1 way to even begin to get to one
I really miss my bookstore shopping.
I’ve been in love with Amazon for years. At first it was necessary because our town didn’t have a bookstore. Now with a huge mega-store and a few small bookstores that’s not a problem. Then it was my toddlers. Every time I went to pick up one item I ended up coming home with 5. Not that buying my kids books disturbed me but they wanted the more expensive kids books. What can I say, they have great taste. Now they are not toddlers but older and still want books all the time too. Yes, I am raising them to love reading. But the reason I stick with Amazon is that they are just too convenient for me. I can go to the bookstore at 5:00 am or 11:00 pm. I can go in my PJ’s or dressed to the nines. I can visit Amazon at any time, even when cooking dinner. Amazon will not give me a dirty look if I’m on the phone while making my purchase. Amazon forgives me if I go into purchase something, change my mind three times, put books back on the shelf and then grab them again. I love Amazon.
As soon as I could buy books for cheaper online, my somewhat rocky affair with the bookstore was over. Then I moved to a small town where a tiny and massively overpriced selection is all there is to be had in the single bookstore–and it’s not even one of those great ones with personality. After that buying online was just easier. And then I discovered http://www.booksprice.com and have the option of searching oodles of sites for the cheapest copy of whatever I want. It was love at first site…er sight.
I gave my local bookstores every opportunity, and they failed me on all counts. I’ve had special orders take two months to arrive, and discovered the book had come in only when I went in and asked, although they claimed they’d called me. (Riiiight. I have caller ID, buddy.) Going to find a new release on release day is an exercise in frustration. Most books aren’t discounted — and if it would be discounted in the store, it isn’t when you have to special order it. Backlist inventory is a sad joke. Then there’s the question of finding things that ARE in the store. One of our local chains is Hasting’s, which divides YA books into Young Readers, Young Readers Series, Teens, and Teens Series. Naturally books from a single series get scattered across all four categories.
Box of discounted books from Amazon with free shipping: $25. Not having to deal with my local bookstores: priceless.
I’m a tactile buyer
(I’m that strange person feeling up the book covers)
so I still like to go to the bricks and mortar bookstore.
For autobuys, on-line is fine
but if I’m in a random book mood,
nothing like browsing the shelves.
I’m, however, a bookstore whore,
never been emotionally involved,
never made promises of fidelity,
so I’ve never broken up with one.
I had to give up bookstores after I became a quadriplegic. The aisles where to narrow and I couldn’t pick up books to read the blurbs. I also live in a rural area and had to travel 50 to 60 miles just to get to get there!:roll: Now I shop B&N online and love it.:smile:
I’m a big city girl and love my excursions to the local GIGANTIC independent bookstore, but not when I’m looking for romance or research books (ok, sometimes they have what I want, but not reliably). When I want those I go online (let’s just say the UPS guy and I are very close). How could anything be easier than a few clicks and it’s on my stoop?
I have learned that when a new release comes out I might as well wait a few days before trying our one and only bookstore. I think they hold the new stock for the night shift to put out whenever they feel like it sometime that week. Most of the staff consists of teenagers who think romance books are stupid (I’ve overhead them believe me) so they are not going to be bending over backwards to get them out fast. The good news is that pretty soon there will be a Barnes & Noble in driving distance (I’ve always had to wait until I go far away on vacation) so I’m excited about that. I have been using Amazon a lot lately especially since I got into Virago modern classics. They just don’t carry those in the stores around here.
I gave up on my local bookstore when they changed locations and have a terrible parking lot situation. They also have less room and do a horrible job with romance. The other chain store is across town and has horrible traffic.My children believed that I couldn’t ever pass by a book store without going in.
I love to hold books in my hand and will do more impulse buying but it takes planning for me to get to one of the local bookstores-45-60 minutes away.
I am now a prime Amazon user and have a relationship with my UPS guy. He brings dog biscuits to my dog.;)
I’m a tactile shopper too. I’ve bought books online, but they are usually the remains of series I want, a different format than I can find in a store, or something I am already sure about. I prefer to shop in a store. If they don’t have the book I want I can get it online, but by perusing the shelf I have found some of my favorite books ever. My online love is for the hold function at the local library. When there is a specific book that I just want to read, I put it on hold through the website and then go pick it up from the shelf where it sits under my name. And if I like it, then I buy it.
Alas, I was never really loyal to any one bookstore–book slut that I am… I get my books when I can, where I can, however I can… I’ve been know to frequent various on-line spots looking for hook-ups. They deliver.
And every now and then I cruise the brick and mortar spots. I’m not ashamed either. I learned a long time ago that if a girl wants her books when she wants them, she has to play the field. 
Great post!
Gwyneth
My local independent new/UBS is leaving me next month. Sales are down and have been for the past couple of years. This means that I will no longer have access to backlists more than 6 mos to a year old. There is a Half Price Books nearby, but it won’t be the same. I’ve gotten out of the habit of buying from Amazon since they stopped discounting the mass markets.
Breaking up with a bookstore…I broke up with Scribner’s on Fifth Avenue (it’s now a Sephora) years ago when I bought four paperbacks and they wrote on the charge slip “3 books and 1 romance.” The other three books were mysteries. I took the snotty clerk to task for his inability to correctly categorize the merchandise with parallel description. Pig.
It is much easier to browse the holdings of several public library systems or Amazon than to visit a store, but the only way to find out about books whose names or authors I do not know, or to view astonishing cover art, is to visit the stores. So a mixture of methods is ideal.
Amazon is best for the books that I am not panting to get my hands on, or when I have enough reading material to last for awhile. But I love brick and mortar. We have a brand new BN at a brand new walking mall. I am trying to train them. We’ll see if the new Elizabeth Lowell is out on the release date next week. If not, I know where they put the romances in the back, so they can just go fetch it, can’t they? I tell them all the time they will sell more books in the front of the store than on that cart in the back. A couple of people even took it well. But when Evanovich is out at my grocery store before BN, WELL!
I go to my local indie bookstore whenever I can. I find things by physical browsing that I don’t online (and vice versa). I also like the community aspect of physical stores and libraries. A center for reading is well worth supporting.
I won’t support Barnes & Noble because many of their physical stores won’t stock erotica or even hot romance. Won’t even special order it! They claim it’s against their “corporate decency standards”. Pricks.
Borders will stock anything or order anything I want. And Borders’ rewards program is FREE, unlike B&N.