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We hear all the time these days about brick-and-mortar bookstores closing down. And like Oscar’s and the Cookbook Store, many of them cite competition from online retailers (read, Amazon) as a significant issue. What makes the end of Oscar’s and the Cookbook Store particularly interesting is that they are both niche stores focusing on a particular subject.
When big-box bookstores such as Chapters and Barnes and Noble emerged in North America about twenty years ago, niche bookstores were seen by many industry commentators as the future of independent brick-and-mortar bookselling. Their specialized nature enables employees of niche bookstores to develop deep expertise in their subjects. That in turn helps them make informed, personalized recommendations that keep book buyers coming back. Niche bookstores also stock lesser-known work that a general-interest store wouldn’t devote shelf space to.
One could argue their wide selection no longer gives niche bookstores a competitive edge, since about 50% of books in North America are now bought online. Online retailers specialize in the long tail; they have immense selection in every imaginable category.
But as Chris Szego, the manager of Bakka Phoenix, a sci-fi and fantasy bookstore in Toronto, says: “The truth is online bookstores offer depth, but you have to know what you’re thinking of. . . . We tell people which books they’ll love, and we tell people which ones they won’t.” Algorithms still can’t replace hand selling, in other words.
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