Over the recent years, there has been a rise in a digital renaissance. Everything and anything can be found online these days – from shows and comics to vinyls and books.
The demand for books has been on quite the rise as of recently, as Amazon has given plenty of aspiring authors the opportunity to publish and share their work. Since Amazon has quite the large monopoly over most businesses, it is a very easy option for most aspiring authors to use. Beyond self-publishing, Amazon has held significant authority in the book marketplace and has placed pressure on traditional bookstores, resulting in the shutdown of numerous independent bookstores and affecting larger chains that have all but disappeared.
One of these stores was a chain bookstore known as Borders. Borders was a prominent bookstore that operated in the United States and several other countries. From 1971, Borders gained popularity for its selection of books, music, and movies, as well as its store’s comfortable vibe and layout. At its peak, Borders had hundreds of stores worldwide. However, Borders struggled to adapt to the constant changing of the book industry, particularly with the rise of online retailers like Amazon and the shift towards digital content. Amazon and Borders even had a partnership for a time, from 2001 to 2007. In 2011, Borders filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its remaining stores, marking the end of an era for the chain and leaving a significant void in the retail book market. With Borders gone so recently, this leaves Barnes and Noble’s as the last standing chain bookstore in the United States. Amazon’s dominance in various industries have impacted many other corporations, including Toys R’ Us and Circuit City.
Many major companies have risen and fallen, but Barnes & Noble has mysteriously hung on, and yet so many hope they continue to thrive; due to a lack of brick-and-mortar bookstores. This means that, for the book industry, Barnes and Noble is the last standing chain bookstore here in America. Barnes & Noble is a well-known bookseller chain founded in 1886. They continue to face challenges due to competition from online retailers and changing consumer preferences, but the company operates both in stores and online, and provides consumers with a loyalty program that helps match online retailer prices. Among student opinions, it is a very common place where most go to get books, Japanese manga, and even vinyl records. “Not only do they keep up with trends for books that are popular on social media, but they set up small tables with classics, romance, and they keep up with the “blind date with a book” trend, which is always fun to pick out books that are wrapped so you don’t see what is inside. “It always makes me very excited to see the small tables and to roam the isles of the store,” said Lilith Tovmassian, an avid reader and a student at GCC. “With the onset of online reading and using Kindles, it is great to know that there is still a bookstore that people enjoy visiting for stationary, books, and music because without Barnes and Noble, we would not have anything keeping the love of books alive in people and technology would win again.”
By constantly adding new books that are popular on social media, the last major book retailer effectively draws new audiences to the store. “I mainly get book recommendations from social media. Barnes and Nobles even has a separate section of books that is really popular on TikTok,” said Alice Bursalyan, a student from PCC. They also regularly host events such as author meetups and educational cafes. And finally, Barnes and Noble always has an in-store cafe that makes it quite enjoyable to shop in. “Having a Starbucks in the store makes the experience of shopping there much more enjoyable and all the more fun,” Tovmassian explained.
“I truly believe that Barnes and Noble is the last chain bookstore … they have almost every book on the market, the books are kept very organized in their correct sections, and they are the first to get new releases when an author publishes. If I want to buy a book, I will always go to Barnes and Noble,” Bursalyan said.
Overall, the impact that Amazon has had on the book industry is being felt by younger generations, who have fewer independent bookstores to shop at. A good thing you can do is support your local bookstores and small family-owned businesses. And if that fails, at least Barnes & Noble is still around.
Sophia Rostomyan can be reached at [email protected].