Comments on The Endurance of the Used and Rare BookstoreTypePad2011-02-18T16:00:05ZRick Garnetthttps://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/tag:typepad.com,2003:https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2011/02/the-endurance-of-the-used-and-rare-bookstore/comments/atom.xml/Julie commented on 'The Endurance of the Used and Rare Bookstore'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d834515a9a69e2014e862d5dcf970d2011-02-19T14:46:11Z2011-02-19T14:46:11ZJulieI think Amazon actually helps small used bookstores. The Amazon marketplace feature has created a nearly perfect international used book...<p>I think Amazon actually helps small used bookstores. The Amazon marketplace feature has created a nearly perfect international used book market. It let the smallest goodwill store or tiny shop reach all of Amazon's customers. We buy used from them, saving money off of new; the small stores get a new world of business. And amazon takes a small cut of the sale price, so it makes money, too. The only ones who lose are the big chain stores - like Borders. </p>Michael Cain commented on 'The Endurance of the Used and Rare Bookstore'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d834515a9a69e2014e8628fe8a970d2011-02-18T19:24:30Z2011-02-18T19:24:30ZMichael CainMarc, you would have to know the excellent series Black Books to know that my reference to Bernard Black is...<p>Marc, you would have to know the excellent series Black Books to know that my reference to Bernard Black is entirely consistent with your experience. Do check it out on Netflix. Idiosyncratic personalities can flourish in a bookshop and add to the experience. And I think that many employees at Borders or Barnes & Noble would like to add more "individuality" or a "sense of place" to shoppers' experiences, but the corporate setting makes it more difficult.</p>Marc DeGirolami commented on 'The Endurance of the Used and Rare Bookstore'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d834515a9a69e2014e86288840970d2011-02-18T17:33:04Z2011-02-18T17:33:04ZMarc DeGirolamiDavid and Lisa, thanks for both excellent comments. Lisa, that sounds absolutely wonderful. Can't wait to visit.<p>David and Lisa, thanks for both excellent comments. </p>
<p>Lisa, that sounds absolutely wonderful. Can't wait to visit.</p>Lisa Schiltz commented on 'The Endurance of the Used and Rare Bookstore'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d834515a9a69e20147e2a8f4fd970b2011-02-18T17:27:34Z2011-02-18T17:27:34ZLisa SchiltzOh, Marc, if you haven't yet had the pleasure, the next time you visit Minnesota you HAVE to visit Loome...<p>Oh, Marc, if you haven't yet had the pleasure, the next time you visit Minnesota you HAVE to visit Loome Theological Booksellers: <a href="https://www.loomebooks.com/index.cfm?" rel="nofollow">https://www.loomebooks.com/index.cfm?</a> </p>
<p>The main theological collection is in a beautiful old former Swedenborgian church. Books are organized in interesting theological categories, stuffed into bookshelves crammed into every nook and cranny, including the upstairs choir loft. Because of the shape of the church and the idiosyncracy of the categories, you find yourself moving along curved walls of bookshelves, with no idea of what you'll come across in the next bank of books. I've made a couple of discoveries of writers I've come to love (like Rosemary Haughton), just by picking up random books that looked interesting, that I never would have known to look for. </p>
<p>Yes, they have a robust website, but the physical experience of being in that store is something you can't experience virtually. And it's in a beautiful Mississippi River town, about an hour from Minneapolis. (Ask Patrick Brennan about what he's found there sometime...)</p>David Nickol commented on 'The Endurance of the Used and Rare Bookstore'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d834515a9a69e2014e86286b6e970d2011-02-18T17:07:42Z2011-02-18T17:07:42ZDavid NickolFew things are more pleasurable to me than browsing in a bookstore. However, when you know exactly what you want,...<p>Few things are more pleasurable to me than browsing in a bookstore. However, when you know exactly what you want, it simply makes no sense to go to even the best new or used bookstore. I recently decided it would be fun to read a couple of old potboilers that were scandalous in the 1950s. (I won't admit what they are, but of course by today's standards they are tame.) I also thought it would be fun to see if I could find a copy of a book that I had loved as a kid, Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars, by Ellen Macgregor. We have a great store in New York—The Strand—that sells used books, but I just checked, and they only have one of the books (the most notorious potboiler). I got all three through AbeBooks.com for $14.97, and that included shipping. </p>
<p>Not so much here, but on dotCommonweal and Vox Nova, people tend to recommend religious books I want that are either very expensive or out of print. (It is amazing how often the publisher is Oxford University Press.) The only practical way to find uses copies is online. Before we all had Internet access, my parents used to run a small used and out-of-print book business. They did book searches for people looking for out-of-print books, and it was all done by mail, newsletters, and catalogs. The whole business of used books (physical ones) has been dramatically changed by the Internet, and now of course a lot of older material that is in the public domain is available free for the Kindle, the Nook, and so on. </p>Marc DeGirolami commented on 'The Endurance of the Used and Rare Bookstore'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d834515a9a69e20147e2a8de13970b2011-02-18T17:06:38Z2011-02-18T17:06:38ZMarc DeGirolamiMichael, maybe for some, but that wasn't the case with the owners of my old store -- see here for...<p>Michael, maybe for some, but that wasn't the case with the owners of my old store -- see here for more thoughts along those lines: <a href="http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2011/02/the-endurance-of-the-used-and-rare-bookstore.html#c6a00d8341c6a7953ef014e86285f42970d" rel="nofollow">http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2011/02/the-endurance-of-the-used-and-rare-bookstore.html#c6a00d8341c6a7953ef014e86285f42970d</a> </p>Michael Cain commented on 'The Endurance of the Used and Rare Bookstore'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d834515a9a69e20147e2a8cb07970b2011-02-18T16:51:45Z2011-02-18T16:51:45ZMichael CainI would suggest that personable owners and staff can go a long way toward developing loyalty among shoppers. Bernard Black,...<p>I would suggest that personable owners and staff can go a long way toward developing loyalty among shoppers. <br />
Bernard Black, for example: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Books" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Books</a><br />
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