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Posts Tagged ‘Barnes and Noble’

Independent Bookstores in the City

Tuesday, August 13th, 2013

Hello readers! I am Ryan, one of the new fall interns at Beaufort. I thought for my introductory blog post I would talk about some of the independent bookstores in the city. I just heard the good news on Shelf Awareness that Michael de Zayas, of gourmet cheese fame in Crown Heights, is creating a new bookstore on the corner of Bedford and Park Place (just one block from my apartment). De Zayas has already proven himself a capable businessman in the neighborhood: he’s the man behind Wedge, an artisan cheese and bread store, and Little Zelda, a coffeehouse next door. Given his success on Franklin Ave. with two such hipster retreats, hopes should be high for a third, especially since the nearest local bookstore is a twenty minute walk away (though some would undoubtedly claim that Unnameable Books is worth the walk).

Beaufort’s office is actually located in a particularly dense bookstore cluster, only a few blocks from the iconic Union Square triumvirate of The Strand, St. Mark’s Bookshop, and Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers.

The Strand is the biggest of the three with a huge fiction selection, three floors, great prices, and good vibes.

The Strand,

The Strand * 828 Broadway New York, NY 10003 * (212) 473-1452

St. Mark’s Bookshop is a bit more arty and spare and is located right in the heart of St. Mark’s (hence the name)—stop in for that anthology on Foucault and you will pass by the Continental bar, with its infamous 5 shots for $10 deal.

St. Mark’s * 31 3rd Ave New York, NY 10003 * (212) 260-7853

Shakespeare & Co. is part of a small NYC chain of three bookstores that form an axis on the East Side. The one I’m talking about is right next to NYU and has a definite college feel in terms of its staff and its course book offerings. It lives up to the hype of its name both in the selection for Shakespeare titles and in its smell, mahogany shelves, and comfy chairs.

Shakespeare & Co. * 716 Broadway New York, NY 10003 * (212) 529-1330

The country’s largest Barnes and Noble is also right on Union Square, and, given its huge collection, it’s a great place to find that sought after book you just can’t find anywhere else. It’s also a great place to find that sought after bathroom after drinking three cups of coffee at the Farmer’s Market.

B&N * 33 E 17th St New York, NY 10003 * (212) 253-0810

I’ve recently been working at Book Culture, an independent bookstore in Morningside Heights beloved by Columbia students. Come by our main location on 112th mid-block between Broadway and Amsterdam, or, if you are with kids or are just looking for bestselling fiction, try our newish location on 114th and Broadway.

Book Culture’s 112th location

Book Culture’s Broadway location

Since the advent of e-readers, independent booksellers have been characterized in the media as a relic of the past, but the truth is that they have actually become more important than ever. With their carefully curated selection and knowledgeable staff, they have become cultural beacons, as important as publishers in determining the trajectory of literature. Amazon may have millions of titles, but it has no way of sifting through its offerings and determining what is relevant to you, unlike the former English majors roaming the stacks and re-shelving overstock who can make recommendations, tell you what people are buying, and talk to you about your favorite authors. Apple offers great convenience with e-books, but independent bookstores offer you one-of-a-kind events in the form of author readings, lectures, and Q&As.

It’s not that Amazon and Apple are worse than independent booksellers, or vice versa—they’re just different and provide equally necessary services for the book world. So stop by and support your local store: they’ll appreciate your business and, who knows, maybe you will get to meet a really interesting person.

 

Cheerio,

BEAUseph Conrad

Beaustie Boy: Everybody Hates Amazon

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

Remember when everyone hated Amazon? You don’t have to think back that far because it’s happening right now.  All of the seemingly out-of-the blue backlash against Amazon has been flooding the publishing news circuit this week.  Barnes and Noble’s recent decision to not sell Amazon books in their stores (they will still sell online content) was a catalyzing move causing many other bigwig and independent booksellers to follow suit.  The logic behind the decision is that Amazon has limited the availability of content for readers and also has steered towards exclusivity with publisher and authors, esentially making a VERY unfair market for selling books and attempting to completely dominate other publishers and outlets.  What everyone is moaning and groaning about is that they do not feel that in the (near?) future publishers should not be forced to comply with Amazon in distributing their content.   The vice-president of Indigo Books even stated that Amazon does not have the long term interest of the reading public nor the publishing industry in mind.

Just a few years ago Amazon revolutionized the way the public reads when they launched their Kindle tablet, increasing the sales and popularity of e-books.  (Side note – one thing I learned interning today is that Kindle was NOT the first e-Reader.  The first official e-Reader was distributed by Sony…yet when it was launched it fell flat on his face.  Seriously, who screwed that one up?)  Point being, Amazon’s digital movement was embraced by most readers and engaged a lot of publishing professionals when it was released, yet now that they are moving towards publishing paper and hard backs everyone is up in arms.

Is this really fair? I agree with most when they say that Amazon opening physical store locations throughout the country would most likely fall flat on its face, but would it actually monopolize the book selling industry?  Certainly one can’t argue that Amazon DOES limit content to their audiences and encourages complete exclusivity with some of their clients.  But Apple does the same thing…try playing your iTunes music on any device other than an iPod. (yeah, it doesn’t work).  This is just the nature of business, and in my opinion due to the increase of digital media and online content the business of publishing has become a bit of a melee.  It’s fair to want to protect your assets and your business by rejecting collaborative efforts with a potential competitor, but is it fair to be this vitriolic in the press?  Amazon had a great idea with the Kindle and e-books and it’s natural to want to expand on that idea and include audiences that might not have jumped on the tablet bandwagon.  The objective of business is to continue to generate revenue and a wider audience, and Amazon is doing just that.

It’s important, especially in today’s world, to be a conscientious consumer.  If people are willing to research and engage in political discussion when electing a President or Senator, they should be just as willing to come up with their own opinion of how and from where they are purchasing.  I think a lot of the book sellers, especially the smaller independent ones, played a little bit of follow the leader when B&N made their public decision without really thinking in-depth about the choice.

Time will tell how all of these decisions will effect the market of book selling and from where people are likely to get their books…but in the mean time keep posted and and do a little digging around the Internet before you shake your finger at Amazon.

P.S. The one laughing all the way to the bank in this episode is not necessarily Amazon – while all of this mudslinging was going on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt signed to be the first distributor of content outside of Amazon.com…a potentially very profitable move.  Will it spark a different game of follow the leader?