Bookstores, sadly, are going down the toilet one by one. Strangely huge mark ups have not saved the Borders chain here, and our favorite after work hang out is shutting it's doors.
Sigh. I am very sad.
Anyway, on a brighter note I just bought me a whole bunch of the shop fittings from the admimistrator. Partly as keep sakes, partly because clear acrylic risers would make great display stands for my minis! Plus a mile of black plasticard! Nice.
I am sure the feeling of being a vulture will go away shortly... Perhaps leaving the faint tinge of remorse.
One of my local book shop closed too a few months ago. Although I don't really know anything about that business, it must be incredibly difficult to compete with online offers.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame - I try and support my local bookstores as much as possible, including local comic bookstores too - it just seems a bit rubbish when they don't even knock down the price of books that have scuffed or marked covers. I'm referring mainly to the graphic novels here, but some of those are mangled and still on the shelves!
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked at a bookstore the mark up was 45% on a sale or return basis. Not sure how you can really stuff that up. Drop your profit margins to compete with online, and work on convenience of immediate purchase- then host lots of author appearances, promotions and encourage repeat buys. Bolster sales with merchandise and giftware, and do not overstock.
ReplyDeleteNot rocket science.
Yet Borders was hugely marked up here, filled most of their large space with bargain bin quality books, and overstocked regularly on things like Harry potter.