'The Return of Bookselling'

Shelf Awareness

"I think the most interesting [change] is one we are still riding right now: what I'd call 'the return to the bookstore.' Over the past couple of decades, some of our customers were tempted to fill their book needs elsewhere--at inexpensive retail outlets, online, through e-books, etc. 
But many of those customers have returned to our stores these past few years with a renewed sense of commitment. Our customers' awareness of the importance of shopping local, the pleasure of the physical book, the value of browsing a well-curated selection, and the fulfillment that is gained by interacting in person, in a real space with other readers engaged in the activity of sharing and exchanging ideas, is greater than it's ever been."

--ABA v-p Robert Sindelar, managing partner of Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park and Seattle, Wash., in a q&a with Bookselling This Week