Tuesday, June 26, 2007


FROM DUTTON'S BRENTWOOD NEWS

On the web

http://www.duttonsbrentwood.com/


The internet retail juggernaut………is apparently losing some steam. That’s according to a recent report in the New York Times. The boom in web-based sales hasn’t exactly gone bust – sales are still growing – but the rate of growth has begun to slow. According the article in last Friday’s Technology section, the increase in sales has dropped dramatically from the 25% rate of the last few years. The decline, which has been seen in almost all sectors, including books, is due to several factors. Partly, it’s simply that, with internet sales approaching 5% of all sales, there’s now less room to grow. But another factor, one that is especially encouraging to small bricks and mortar stores such as Dutton’s Brentwood, is that shoppers are increasingly finding they miss the old-fashioned personal touch that a “virtual” store can never duplicate. But, interestingly, another factor is that “real” stores have found they can learn from the internet experience by retooling their environments to be hipper and flashier – more likely to appeal to the technology savvy consumer of today and tomorrow. As for Dutton’s, don’t fear – we’re not about to become too tech-oriented. The nice thing about books is that the quintessential shopping experience is still picking up a book, cracking open its pages, and getting lost in the words.

Always tinkering……………in order to improve the Dutton’s Brentwood web site. After having changed very little on our store’s home page in the previous five or six years, we’ve recently been on a crash course to catch up with all the developments in internet technology and design. Most recently we’ve added extra navigational aids on the bottom on each page for “power users,” directed external links to new browser windows rather than within the frame (eliminating the “Russian nesting dolls” effect) and, lastly, added a printable version of our calendar of upcoming events so you can stick it on your refrigerator. Hopefully the result is a more easily navigated and site. If you’d like to visit, please stop by at file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Jay%20Clark/My%20Documents/www.duttonsbrentwood.com, and be on the lookout for more improvements in the coming months.

Picture of the week -(Sadly Bookman Beattie could not upload this spelndid picture of the most handsome author! But you can go to their website and check him out)

Khaled Hosseini speaking in front of a small portion of what was actually a very large crowd.
Signing his new novel, A. Thousand Splendid Suns, in the West room.


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