Economic Activism: Bookstores

Economic Activism Thought of the Week:

Bookstore chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders, and their online equivalent Amazon, are killing off independent booksellers. They arrange special volume discounts on books that smaller sellers can't match, and specifically target markets with large independent stores they can put out of business and replace. The largest chains are even buying out book distributors and publishers, leaving indy bookstores at a further disadvantage.

But independent bookstores are the ones that have traditionally championed new writers rather than whatever the big publishers decided to push, and actually stock (not just special-order) the kinds of unusual and interesting books that made a "free press" worth guaranteeing in the U.S. Constitution.

A single chain location may stock more different books than a single indy store, but collectively the indies support a much wider diversity of authors and publishers. And while a chain store may have a "feminist" or "children" or "mystery" or "spirituality" or "travel" or "sci-fi" or "lesbian/gay" section, it won't have nearly the depth or breadth of an independent bookstore that specializes in one of those niches.

The independents know what they're up against and are trying hard to earn customer loyalty, and they deserve your support. Some of the high-tech niceties of the chains are matched by independent bookstores who are on the web either by themselves or through BookSense.com.