Will Bricks-and-Mortar Book Stores Go Extinct?

The Economist is the latest to comment on the seemingly-inevitable demise of the physical book store, springboarding off the bankruptcy of Borders Books.

This is a worldwide phenomenon, not limited to the US. Some college book stores are also biting the dust, stung by intense competition from online retailers and from digital textbooks.

Yet some independent book stores are very much alive and growing through a combination of niche marketing, social media, and customer service. Three examples of why I think book retailers will always have a storefront on a street or avenue somewhere:

• Northshire Bookstore in Vermont (video above) uses cutting-edge technology to serve its customers, including print-on-demand books--plus old-fashioned, personalized service that's hard to find in big chain stores. Northshire maintains a blog and is active in other social media.
• Seek Books in Boston (only 2 years old) specializes in used sci-fi books, a niche where it faces minimal competition and caters to an avid customer base.
• The Bookcase in Minnesota, more than 50 years old, schedules all kinds of activities to engage booklovers of all ages.