The final chapter has been written for the lone bookstore on the streets of Laredo.
With a population of nearly a quarter-million people, this city could soon be the largest in the nation without a single bookseller.
The situation is so grim that schoolchildren have pleaded for a reprieve from next month’s planned shutdown of the B. Dalton bookstore. After that, the nearest store will be 150 miles away in San Antonio.
“With a population of nearly a quarter-million people, this city could soon be the largest in the nation without a single bookseller.”
That is too bad–and a bit embarrassing, I should think, to Laredo’s Chamber of Commerce. At least they still have libraries and on-line bookstores.
There is a reason why Barnes and Noble is putting the B Dalton line out of its misery; they are lousy bookstores. Wonder what their Spanish language content was? The fact that they are replacing it with a full size Barnes and Noble means they still think there is a market for a good bookstore. With demographics which indicate 94% Hispanic population on the US side, 50% (all ethnicities) with limited literacy, and immediately adjacent to a city of 650,000 Mexicans you can bet they will market to the upscale Mexican population which crosses the border to shop (as it does from Tijuana, Mexicali, etc.) There may be a message here for border churches as well.
I almost never buy books from our local bookstore any more. They charge full retail unless you buy a membership that entitles you to a discount on SOME books.
I either browse on line, or I go there, browse, and then use an iPhone app called SnapTell that takes a picture of the cover, and then sends me online prices. The online prices are sometime dramatically lower than retail, and some of the online folks offer free shipping if you’re not in a hurry.
I do feel a little guilty about this, and when there isn’t much of a price difference, I will buy the book at the store.