For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite pastimes has been browsing in bookstores and selecting books. From my earliest days I recall spending hours in Bridgetown at the SPCK on the second floor of Fogarty’s. In Hong Kong a few years later it was Harris Book Shop that provided an oasis of quiet and learning amidst the hustle and bustle of that remarkable city of intense entrepreneurial activity.
As I traveled the world while living in Thailand, I would come to spend hours in London at Foyles on Charring Cross Road and Hatchards of Piccadilly. My purchase of books from these establishments quite challenged the capacity of my suitcases and would well exceed today’s meager airline baggage allowance. Even so, I had on several occasions to resort to posting some of my purchases home.
On returning to Barbados I travelled frequently to the United States at a time when the publishing industry was deregulated thus allowing retail establishments to discount the publisher’s listed price. Crown Books became my bookstore of choice though I had a special love for a standalone shop in Washington DC on Connecticut Avenue, Kramer’s.
Kramer’s is a bookstore with a difference. Not only do they carry a remarkable selection of books but the adjoining restaurant has a unique atmosphere and is a great meeting point with wholesome food and drink.
In time, a new bookstore chain came on the scene to replace Crown Books. It was Borders whose relaxed layout and comfortable reading spaces along with an adjoining coffee shop made shopping a pleasure. Many a day or evening I would spend hours at Borders in cities from San Francisco to Miami returning to Barbados laden down with books.
But there was a new shop on the horizon that sought my custom and in 1995 I bought my first book from Amazon.com. It was the first of hundreds more to follow over the next 16 years and in all that time I must have only bought ten or twenty books from Borders. This week, after a period of time in chapter 11 and several unsuccessful bids to rescue the chain, Borders closed all of its shops across the United States.
The book trade has now evolved into large online internet shops and stand alone specialty shops that focus on unique characteristics of their customer base and special attractions. Those late to adapt to the new technological realities or who fail to continue the process of innovation that heralded their early success quickly become an endangered species. Further evolution is clearly on the cards as electronic books can be purchased online and downloaded in a matter of seconds onto a reading device such as a Kindle, iPad or NookBook. One of my granddaughters already has all of her text books and work books downloaded on her electronic reading device for the next school year.
The history of the book trade is a cautionary tale for many business models that are slow to adapt in a world where change continues to take place with increasing velocity. Few buy a compact disc when they can download music directly to an iPod or computer. No shipping cost, no duty and infinite selection with delivery straight to the home. Three dimension printers are the new manufacturing wave that will similarly leap national boundaries and revolutionize distribution of many physical products from tools to automobile parts.
I will continue to enjoy browsing in bookstores but my shopping habits have already changed, today’s generation may well ask “what was a bookstore?” and “why did they print books on paper?” Whatever the answer, I still hope that Kramer’s will be around for a very long time.
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