Independent Bookstores: Hope Amidst the Turmoil

With maybe two months to go before her job at Atlantic Books is gone – before her job along with the Manahawkin store itself disappears into history – one of the employees spoke with me off the record in hushed tones.

"I bought a Kindle two years ago,” she whispered, with an air of someone admitting a terrible sin.

The employee said that when she saw Oprah Winfrey talking about her Kindle on her show, that’s when she first had an inkling that the job she loved so much was on its way out.

"Most of it has to do with the Internet, and ebooks,” said Atlanitc Books owner Mark Simons, when explaining why his chain is closing its doors. “You [and Patch] are benefitting from what the newspapers are losing, and it’s pretty much the same in our business. We’re pretty much continuing down the same path as the music business and the video business.”

It is true that e-book sales have been growing. According to last month's statistical report from BISG (Book Industry Study Group), one of the top book industry research organizations, readers who have tried the digital format, like it and stick with it.

If you love books, print or digital, it isn’t all bad news, however. The important thing is, you're in good company.

According to this summer's report from the BSIG, "All Americans, young and old, are reading actively in all print and digital formats," with overall American publishers' revenues growing over the last several years.

Even Simon of Atlantic Books, who is closing up shop, has put up his old Beach Haven store space for rent, and mentioned an indie book store as one of the possibilities that he believed could work really well.

“I think the book business belongs to the independents,” said Simon. “Long before Barnes and Noble, and Borders, there were hundreds and thousands of independent book stores, and they were community hubs.”

There is a difference, Simon explained, between running a chain, and running a small bookshop, where families pull together and sometimes work extra hours when more help is needed, and where less space to rent means a significantly smaller overhead.

“They are still going to have to contend with amazon and e-readers,” Simon added. “But they can make it work, if they ground their efforts in their communities.”

Rosalyn Lifshin, one of the owners of Sun Rose Words and Music on Asbury Avenue in Ocean City, said business is going well.

Lifshin loved books since young age, and having worked in the casino industry, joined her childhood friend and fellow Ocean City resident Nancy Miller in running Sun Rose Words and Music in early 2000s.

Those years when readers flocked to Amazon.com were a big transition, Lifshin said, but their then-new bookstore weathered it. Now they are riding out the e-reader revolution with seeming ease.

When Atlanitc Books in Ocean City went out of business a month ago, the news didn’t frighten Lifshin – just the opposite.

“I hate to see any business close because of the way the economy is today,” she said. “But to be honest with you, for us it’s been a benefit. We are getting customers who used to go there.”

In other words, with the chains, big and small, closing, the smaller shops may have an even better chance to hold on to their niches and their customers.

“I think you need to become a part of your community,” Lifshin said. “A bookstore is a natural area for people to meet, to talk.”

Another part of it, for Lifshin, is an amazing customer service. Knowing the customers, knowing what they like, helping them find what they are looking for – those are the attributes of a successful indie bookstore, Lifshin said.

Cindi Arteglier, resident of Bayville, who opened her used book shop in Lacey, just across from Walmart last November, definitely shares in Lifshin’s optimism.

"Despite the naysayers, I think that books are still definitely alive and kicking,” Arteglier said. “I really don’t think the advent of kindle and all of that are going to take away from people who just love books – people like my husband and me. I myself own a kindle, and I love it, it’s very convenient, but I don’t think it’s ever going to be replaced a book.”

Arteglier’s shop, Blue Moon Books, on Route 9 in Lacey, sells used and rare books, and just like Lifshin, Arteglier understands that a small independent store has got to really be there for the customer.

“When people come in and looking for books, we help them track things down,” said Arteglier. “That’s the kinds of service you don’t get from the bigger stores. We get to know the customers. I think the book industry is going to continue to grow.”

I hope so.

Throughout history, successful novelties often seemed to have replaced older inventions. Cars shoved the buggy carriages off the roads, and word processors took the place of typewriters. But now, I, along with the brave indie bookshop owners, am hoping that it’s time to say good-bye to the either-or thinking of yesterday. 

Just as another example: a small indie bookstore need not choose print exclusively over digital. It could do well with both.

"Indies are participating in the sale of ebooks," said American Book Association spokesperson Meg Smith. "Those stores using American Book Association's ecommerce program, IndieCommerce, can sell Google ebooks through their websites."

It seems that as our world diversifies, there is room for just about anything: be it reading a literary novel on a kindle, getting your hands on the crisp new dystipian YA shipped from a wholesale distributor to your local shop, or tracking down a worn-out rare first-edition copy of a long-ago masterpiece.

Keep it up, indie bookstores. True, the chains are closing. Amazon isn't going anywhere. Still, there is room for you.