The Past And Future Of Big Box Bookstores
Barnes & Noble recently announced it will close nearly 300 bookstores over the coming decade. D.C.'s Georgetown outpost closed last year and the Union Station store is shuttering at the end of this month. While some cheer the downsizing of a perceived corporate giant, others are lamenting the loss of a gathering place in the community to discover new books and meet with friends. We consider the past and uncertain future of chain bookstores.
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Independent Vs. Chain Bookstores In D.C.
Last month, Barnes & Noble announced plans to shutter up to a third of its 689 brick-and-mortar bookstores over the next decade. In D.C., the retail group is already whittling its operations -- the Georgetown location closed its doors last year and the Union Station store is slated to shut down later this week. But readers have many options when it comes to buying books, as the number of independently-owned booksellers in the district vastly outnumbers the number of chain stores. University bookstores (not mapped here) only add to the shopping choices.
Find a bookstore in the map below. Red signifies a chain bookstore, blue signifies an independent one. What's your favorite bookstore? Let us know in the comments.
View Independent vs. Chain Bookstores in D.C. in a larger map
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A pleasant place to browse books? How about a public library? Especially in a neighborhood there's more likely a library than a bookstore.
Barnes & Noble is in many respects the only big box bookstore left and it still relies on a model created in the Great Depression 1930s that enables it to borrow its retail product (a book) and return that product if it isn't sold.
When Home Depot puts a retail product (say, a screw driver) out for sale it cannot return that item if it doesn't sell.
The future of book selling is in specialized outlets. My World War II history "Mission to Tokyo" is more likely to reach a reader in a museum gift shop than in a big box bookstore.