"I can't say I miss physical books. My shelves are already groaning and can't accommodate any more. I do miss the bookstore I grew up with in the Midwest and the small stores that once dotted my neighborhood. Could B&N's decline pave the way for the return of the independent bookseller?
Despite the array of suggestions tailored to my interests (or at least to my recent purchases) that appear when I open the Amazon site, I still yearn for someone intelligent who can recommend a good book. I enjoy the community of other people who love books.
I like talking to someone both before buying a book and after reading it. I think independent bookstores may be able to provide these services even while selling over the Internet. Their overhead should be lower, since they don't need to carry huge inventories of physical books and don't need huge retail spaces. Maybe I'm naive, but I'd like to think there are new opportunities for booksellers."
--James B. Stewart in the Wall Street Journal
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