Friday, October 26, 2007
Post-Gazette writer Mark Roth pointed me to this story about German booksellers, who are fearful now that the Swiss government has eliminated a rule, which Germany shares, that prohibited on books. This has allowed small and independent book stores in Germany to survive, while their counterparts in America and England have fallen to the big chains.
Competition from the Swiss, however, may force Germany to follow suit:
Meanwhile, opinion is divided about what the Swiss decision will mean in Germany. Michael Naumann, a longtime publisher and editor, now running for mayor of Hamburg, as Germany’s culture minister some years back won a battle with the European Union to protect Germany’s fixed-price system. He’s not too worried, he said.
“The fixed book price has worked for more than a century and has provided us with the most competitive book industry, something the market ideologues don’t quite understand,” he said.
But Elisabeth Ruge sounds fearful. She runs Berlin Verlag, the German publisher of Richard Ford and of the English-language edition of the most recent “Harry Potter,” which has sold more than one million copies here. It’s not just the Swiss market, she said, but especially the growth of the German chain stores that troubles her.
“Small literary bookshops here sell our books and other literary books,” she explained. “The chain stores don’t even see our sales reps anymore.” Her representatives visit 2,600 independent bookshops in Germany, three times every year.
I don't know what bookstores are like in Germany or the rest of Europe. But as I've said before, I believe the value of independent bookstores is overstated.
Competition from the Swiss, however, may force Germany to follow suit:
Meanwhile, opinion is divided about what the Swiss decision will mean in Germany. Michael Naumann, a longtime publisher and editor, now running for mayor of Hamburg, as Germany’s culture minister some years back won a battle with the European Union to protect Germany’s fixed-price system. He’s not too worried, he said.
“The fixed book price has worked for more than a century and has provided us with the most competitive book industry, something the market ideologues don’t quite understand,” he said.
But Elisabeth Ruge sounds fearful. She runs Berlin Verlag, the German publisher of Richard Ford and of the English-language edition of the most recent “Harry Potter,” which has sold more than one million copies here. It’s not just the Swiss market, she said, but especially the growth of the German chain stores that troubles her.
“Small literary bookshops here sell our books and other literary books,” she explained. “The chain stores don’t even see our sales reps anymore.” Her representatives visit 2,600 independent bookshops in Germany, three times every year.
I don't know what bookstores are like in Germany or the rest of Europe. But as I've said before, I believe the value of independent bookstores is overstated.
Labels: Bookstores, Germany, Switzerland
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Scott McLemee (who I met a few weeks ago when he visited Carnegie Mellon) writes in Inside Higher Ed about Borders restructuring, and a new documentary that examines the impact that chain bookstores have had on local, indepedent booksellers. Fortunately, according to Scott, the film gives Borders its due:
But the documentary also gives employees of Borders a chance to make their case — and it’s perhaps a stronger case than anyone on the indie side would want to admit.
Protesters complain that Borders is imposing cultural uniformity across the United States by destroying small businesses. (Some anti-corporate activists, as we are told by one person hostile to the chain, will go into a newly opened branch and quite literally vomit.)
The representatives from Borders respond that the stores are competitive for the simple reason that they are attractive and well-stocked. And they have a point. As with most bookstores, Borders makes a great deal of its money by selling whatever the public is demanding at the moment. But even its least well-stocked stores tend to have a decent selection of work that will only appeal to small audiences. Unlike certain other chains one could mention, Borders has (for example) a philosophy section where you can find Judith Butler and W.V. Quine, rather than gallons of “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”
As for me, I like the idea of independent bookstores better than I like the stores themselves. Yes, I'm a hypocrite, because I often preach the virtue of patronizing local merchants instead of the big-box chains, but I buy a lot of books and I like saving a few bucks when I do. Independent stores may carry hard-to-find titles that you might not get at one of the chains (I suspect Scott is taking a shot at Barnes & Noble when he refers to "certain other chains." I probably end up at Barnes & Noble more than Borders simply because there are more of them around here), but they also tend to reflect the tastes of the owner and a much smaller customer base. Borders and other chains might be flush with "The Da Vinci Code" but they have to carry a lot of other titles to appeal to a nationwide audience.
That said, I'd love to live in a neighborhood with its own independent bookstore.
But the documentary also gives employees of Borders a chance to make their case — and it’s perhaps a stronger case than anyone on the indie side would want to admit.
Protesters complain that Borders is imposing cultural uniformity across the United States by destroying small businesses. (Some anti-corporate activists, as we are told by one person hostile to the chain, will go into a newly opened branch and quite literally vomit.)
The representatives from Borders respond that the stores are competitive for the simple reason that they are attractive and well-stocked. And they have a point. As with most bookstores, Borders makes a great deal of its money by selling whatever the public is demanding at the moment. But even its least well-stocked stores tend to have a decent selection of work that will only appeal to small audiences. Unlike certain other chains one could mention, Borders has (for example) a philosophy section where you can find Judith Butler and W.V. Quine, rather than gallons of “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”
As for me, I like the idea of independent bookstores better than I like the stores themselves. Yes, I'm a hypocrite, because I often preach the virtue of patronizing local merchants instead of the big-box chains, but I buy a lot of books and I like saving a few bucks when I do. Independent stores may carry hard-to-find titles that you might not get at one of the chains (I suspect Scott is taking a shot at Barnes & Noble when he refers to "certain other chains." I probably end up at Barnes & Noble more than Borders simply because there are more of them around here), but they also tend to reflect the tastes of the owner and a much smaller customer base. Borders and other chains might be flush with "The Da Vinci Code" but they have to carry a lot of other titles to appeal to a nationwide audience.
That said, I'd love to live in a neighborhood with its own independent bookstore.
Labels: Bookstores
