Since their onset, the success of chain bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders has been a call to arms for small, independent book shops. In 1997, a new contestant arrived in the form of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos’s bookseller Web site.
Eugene booklovers have watched several local stores close their doors during the past 10 years, but most have continued to succeed.
Refusing to be submerged in the “new economy” wave, independent booksellers in Eugene have adapted and strengthened their offerings to appeal to buyers in ways the larger corporate stores can not. Whether it be excellent service, out-of-print books or large holdings in certain areas, each local store offers something unavailable at large chain stores.
Many consumers overlook the benefits of local booksellers in favor of a discount, a broad selection or convenience. But independents offer more to the community than a cute storefront and a knowledgeable staff.
Marc Weinstein, an assistant professor in the Lindquist College of Business, said that local stores are often in areas of low economic activity, forming a base for other merchants to rally around. Take downtown, for example.
Despite efforts to revive the area, relatively few stores have managed to stay in business. Yet Emerald City, Hungry Head, the Bookmark, Smith Family and J. Michaels have all continued to draw humble Eugene residents in. And, while a dollar spent on Amazon.com goes directly to Seattle, money spent in Eugene stays in the community.
“Anytime you spend money in a business that is not locally owned, it ends up elsewhere,” J. Michaels owner Jeremy Nissel said.
According to the American Booksellers Association, the combination of big national chains and Internet bookselling sites have put almost half of the mom-and-pop book stores out of business since 1994. In 1999, almost 1.1 billion adult-consumer books were sold in the United States, of which independent booksellers held a share of only 15.2 percent. The Book Industry Study Group, a New York market researcher, reported a 19.5 percent share in 1995, so there has been a significant drop.
National chains also felt a slight slip in market shares, while book e-tailers, led by Amazon, claimed a 5.4 percent share, up from 0.4 percent in 1997.
National chains and Internet sites have several benefits that independent sellers can rarely match, said Weinstein, whose family owns Emerald City Fine Books.
The chains and e-commerce sites pose the most significant challenge to sellers of new books, such as the Bookmark, Weinstein said. Such small independent stores can not have as many titles in stock.
Also, the large chains buy in greater bulk and can thus offer discounts that are impossible for locally-owned stores to match.
“To compete well, independent booksellers must concentrate into market niches where chains can’t compete,” Weinstein said.
J. Michaels is a bookstore that has filled its niche well. Nissel said his store succeeds because he primarily sells second-hand and out of print books that are not available to bookstores selling new goods.
Though Nissel believes that patronizing larger bookstores hurts small independents, he acknowledges that Amazon.com has helped his business and that of other local stores due to their out-of-print book search service, which locates titles for shoppers and buys them from small shops like his.
When used correctly, the Internet could be a way to survive as an independent bookseller, Weinstein said, yet he believes that closing storefronts to operate solely on the Internet does pose significant concerns.
Emerald City Fine Books, run by Gerry Weinstein, Marc’s father, has benefited from the Internet thanks to a “Z-Shop” set up on Amazon.com, yet continues to run a brick and mortar store in Eugene.
The Smith Family bookstores, with one location by campus and another downtown, has a massive collection of pre-owned books. The thrift store of booksellers, Smith Family offers a wide selection at low prices. Tsunami, Fool’s Cap and Mother Kali books are also community-oriented shops with inviting atmospheres.
While independent bookstores do not believe in drawing solely on the sentiments of customers to stay in business, Weinstein and others say they need a commitment from the community and the local government to help them.
“Small merchants are doing their part to contribute to an economic revival of downtown,” Marc Weinstein said.