Comments on: Column: Open Letter from a Distressed Bookseller

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:41:41 +0000

I’m not sure if this was in response to my previous comment but I will say that I was very impressed that SD’s stock met my immediacy of need, and that they had a number of other books on the same subject (environment/sustainability) that I had heard of as well. I don’t think businesses will do very well if they only function on the guilt system. They will do best if they actually stock what people want to buy. And I certainly felt welcome.

By: jla2mi

jla2mi — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:22:18 +0000

Having worked for small, independent bookstores in Ann Arbor for many years and, even more to the point, being a voracious reader of books I cannot help but have the same concerns about the book world as Karl. The same confusion, also-what is going to happen with the book industry? Books are a HUGE part of my life. I support the local community with not only my purchases but also, for decades, my choices of employment, having forseen the alternatives. It is not too late for everyone concerned not only with the state of independent bookstores, but locally owned business in general, to turn this trend around by supporting locally owned business AND NOT purchasing outside the community. In the small store I work I hear so many times a week the choice: “If I can’t get it now I’ll get it online-or the big stores”. Support is necessary within the capabilities of the businesses we have at our local level-not within the structure of the box store or online store model. Rethinking our immediacy of needs and HOW MUCH we will structure them to support local business is the only way to truly support local business. Independents cannot function within the models of the these giant entities. But we can offer very valuable non-homogenized goods not available within the giant entities, as well as the personal service. We must support local businesses or our only choices will be the homogenized, mass produced goods these entities offer and which very rarely contribute to or support our local community.
I do have to agree that I have, every time I entered SD felt unwelcome-that is different, I assure you, than feeling not welcomed. No greeting, a sigh or huff that indicated my asking questions was an interruption, or complete lack of eye contact. This was when businesses in the community were thriving and I felt this in many stores-my paltry dollar was not going to affect overall thriving income. But, I still shopped there and understood that behavior to be outside the construct of good business sense.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:34:37 +0000

I stopped in today at Shaman Drum and was greeted at the door by a pleasant salesperson who immediately found the book I was looking for. (I found a second one too but then had to leave quickly because there was a tempting display of more books on the same subject.)

The Maynard structure was full at 11:15 a.m.; fortunately there was still meter parking available on Division.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:08:10 +0000

I’m glad that Nicola chimed in. Nicola’s Books is as local as you can be – a singular bookstore owned by a person who lives in our community. She gives to local charitable organizations, invites local authors to speak – what else?

Not mentioned in this long thread – what is the effect on Shaman Drum of the problems in parking near State Street?

By: Clarence Cromwell

Clarence Cromwell — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:59:34 +0000

Who are these people shouting gleefully that books are dead? If you are that happy about it, you never loved books. Who cheers at a funeral?

I have a blog and lots of social networking accounts. The more I use them, the more I see that the internet stinks.

I love my Treo phone, but I wouldn’t trade all my books for a free kindle. Be real.

Books don’t really have the annoyances that the internet has (spam, identity theft, porn-spam, etc). Why exactly should we be glad if they are to go?

By: Crile Wood

Crile Wood — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:24:47 +0000

I enjoy Shaman Drum, but books have been over-hyped and oversold. Every book carries the quote that it is “the greatest book since….” I think the lit world has lost its luster via overexposure and over production. A book no longer seems like a guide to enlightenment. Instead, books of fiction are just outlets for personal angst and positional non-fiction shifts with the cultural and political directions of the times. Books are going the way of Beatlemania. Can anyone imagine Beatlemania in today’s world? She Loves You, no,no,no

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:34:53 +0000

I’m surprised there are 64 comments on here. It’s kind of amazing.

It’s also disconcerting that there is such a large divide amongst the experiences at Shaman Drum.

By: MDinTraining

MDinTraining — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:37:47 +0000

I was an undergrad at U-M,and worked for a downtown business before going back to med school. I must say,that despite being a typical Ann Arborite, I was never treated properly by the Shaman Drum staff. Customer service was poor- downright bad at times. I once asked if they and a copy of the book by KC Johnson and StuartTaylor which analysed the whole Duke Univ Lacross team-alleged rape fiasco. The woman at the counter, instead of look in the book up, chided me,and called me a racist for inquiring about that particular book!!!! on other ocassions, i have seen the staff talk down to blue-collar people who had come into the store. Other times, I have seen staffers so busy reading their books, or chatting on the phone, or surfing the web or taking to fellow staffers, that they couldnt be bothered to help a customer.
With that kind of attitudes and that low level of customer service, it is no wonder that the Drum is folding.
A little less arrogance wouldhave gone a longway in making the Drum a wonderfully welcoming store.
For comparison,just go to Nicola’s Books. The difference is obvious.

By: Nicola

Nicola — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 23:17:35 +0000

Karl is not alone in finding it difficult to make a bookstore profitable – the entire book business is in the midst of financial problems as evidenced by layoffs at many publishers, at Publishers Weekly and at other local book companies. Businesses have to respond to market changes, and sometimes there is no longer a place for a given type of business, however welcoming or well run it may be. It may be that local independent bookstores are on the endangered list; I have to face this issue too, I do consider myself local! My response has been, as Karl’s was, to slash fixed costs and to do whatever I can to keep my customers feeling that I provide value to them. When they cease to believe that, the business dies – sad but true.

By: Eric Boyd

Eric Boyd — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 11:24:25 +0000

I love bookstores as well, but I’d point out that even the advantages of a knowledgeable staff can be replicated, at least in part by the Internet. If you’re looking for a salon and the face-to-face interactions with other literary-minded customers, then the local bookshop has an indisputable role. But, if you’re looking for a regular stream of new recommendations from quirky, unique, knowledgeable personalities supplemented by unsolicited comments from like-minded “customers,” then bookmarking a few carefully selected blogs that allow comments accomplishes much the same result and can create much of the same “community of like-minded readers” feel. Moreover, such online communities allow me to join them while on a layover in Denver or when I wake up before the kids at 5 AM, for example, and not just when I have a free afternoon in town (a rare and precious commodity).