As measured by numbers, bookstores are in inevitable decline, says Michael Cader, founder of Publishers Lunch, a digital newsletter. At the same time, he says, some "modestly sized, locally connected independent stores have found a successful formula" for surviving in today's market.
A growing "buy local" movement across the country is helping all kinds of locally owned stores, says Oren Teicher, head of the American Booksellers Association, the independents' trade group.
Albert Greco, a Fordham University marketing professor who studies book retailing, says chain and independent stores "have never been under more pressure, and it's not all digital." Traditional bookstores (independents and the chains, including Books-A-Million) accounted for less than half of the book market last year, Greco says. The majority of books were sold by a variety of other retailers including Amazon, Price Clubs, supermarkets and convenience stores.
The long-term economic effect of a shift from print to digital on both publishers and booksellers isn't clear. But whether the shift is dramatic or more gradual, the number of bookstores is declining. More than 1,000 bookstores closed from 2000 through 2007, leaving about 10,600, according to the latest federal statistics.
Greco calculates that Amazon has 22.6% of the book market — ahead of Barnes & Noble (17.3%), Borders (8.1%), Books-A-Million (3%) and independents (6%).
Read more at the USA Today
