Bookshops: history, culture, and contemporary relevance

Marketing is so ingrained in the modern way of life we almost do not notice it -- yet we are all ingrained and enraptured by its very power and existence. The pseudo-Darwinian term "survival of the fittest" in today's business world is thus inexorably tied to success in marketing (Ensor 2005). One of the most vivid changes brought by the Internet has been the changes in marketing certain products -- books for example. Predictions from the past decade have now been realized and the era of the brick and mortar bookstore can now officially be closed -- as of January 2009, Amazon.com became the world's largest book retailer in the world. This has resulted in numerous changes; both to the industry, the publishing world, and the way consumers find and choose options (Rosenthal 2009).

Combined with the extreme popularity of the Amazon Kindle family and the Barnes and Noble Nook, does this mean there is no more room for the touch, smell, and interconnectivity that shopping at a privately owned bookstore? According to a 2012 article in the Age, this is absolutely not the case. Certainly, there are appropriate uses for e-commerce in the book genre. Buying and selling without the investment in a large shopping area staffed with numerous employees has its practicality -- but never charm. Downloading a book in "less than 30 seconds" to read electronically is practical for some, but lacks the feeling of connecting with the mind of the author, or finding a gem in the rough because a store clerk has read it.

In fact, the greatest marketing appeal that smaller, privately owned bookshops have, is just that; unique charm and a way to connect. Connections are missing from many aspects of modern urban society, and what a perfect way for marketers to take advantage of a rather captive psychographic audience than to utilize an idea paradigm in which people are wanting to come together to share their own thoughts (Webb, 2012). In one of the most successful enterprises of the late 20th century, Starbucks has proven this to be true. Culturally, this entrepreneurial spirit is accentuated by the Starbucks model believing that each of its shops (outlets) is the "Third Place," for people to spend time (first place being home, second being work)(Schultz, 1999, intro).