It’s funny how the bad guy can become the good guy in new circumstances. I’m thinking in the bookstore context. Now, I love independent bookstores. I shop in them whenever I can. Still, I had a genuine fondness for Borders. My wife introduced me to Borders when I moved to Ann Arbor to be with her. Borders was headquartered in Ann Arbor and it was our go-to for browsing. (This was before Amazon, of course.) Compared to Barnes & Noble it was intellectual and inviting. B&N had gone for the corporate stodgy aesthetic that drives me frantic. We literally mourned when Borders closed, spending hours in the New Jersey stores as they were selling off stock. There was a long time when Amazon seemed the only game in town. Our part of New Jersey had no indies, but the B&N sat on the hill.
Then B&N started having trouble. By now I worked in publishing and seeing the only brick-and-mortar outlet crumbling was scary. We need to fight the ebook invasion. To do this we need bookstores! (Fortunately we have a few good indies where we live in Pennsylvania, but even so, at least two of them have closed in the last five years.) Then something happened. James Daunt bought Barnes & Noble. Daunt was known as an innovative British bookseller. His stores (I’ve only seen pictures) are the thing of dreams. Could he steer this corporate stodgy ship into open waters? It seems to be working.
A piece in a recent New York Times praises the new B&N effort. Instead of stamping “one size fits all” all over his business, Daunt wants his stores to take on local flavor. Not look like every other B&N. And it seems to be working. I still prefer my indies, but the last time I was in the local B&N I noticed subtle changes that can come when a corporate overlord hands a local manager a bit of autonomy. The stores are looking better. And folks, let me be frank here. Christmas is coming and books, real books, need your help. Silicone Valley is trying to force us onto our screens for even more hours of the day. I get off work and pick up a paper book to read. To look at something real. To connect with the actual world. Support your indies, but don’t feel guilty about ducking into B&N. It may not be the place you remember.
