Book store thread

i went to the strand. while the selection was indeed impressive, it was much too crowded to be relaxing or fun. fucking people were everywhere - the line for the checkout was intolerably long.

now that i've seen it and bought a mug from there i'd rather go to a midwestern barnes and nobles to do actual book shopping, to be honest.

My perfect bookstore would have a very small selection of heavily curated newly released books, maybe with a rotating selection of classics. Each item would have a paragraph describing the main draw and features of the book, rather than "I'm an employee here and I super loved ready player one because it was just, like, super fun ;p It's a new fave!" on a few books each shelf. It would have a meeting room or two in which it would hold different book clubs every night (the needs of which would dictate which classics they carry). In addition they would publish their own lit mag where they have people submit reviews and criticism of the books they're carrying that month and feature the schlock of local poets and writers whom they would also carry. People interested in meeting to discuss a book could, through the store's site, put in times they're available and have a group and meeting time generated and emailed to everyone once there's enough interest. They would sell coffee, and maybe beer. They might hold calligraphy classes or writers workshops or hold "an introduction to the greeks" seminars. It would function less as a bookstore and more like a gaming store, where they build and encourage a community around the shop.

>cramped & crowded

do you really consider this a positive thing? i've been to Strand a few times and it tends to be impossibly, unbearably fucking crowded with people from wall to god damn wall. the only time i ever enjoyed it is when i went on a wednesday afternoon and it was practically empty. the selection is incredible, but your odds of being able to browse it freely are way too slim

Totally get what you refer to. My mum feels the same way.

But I somehow enjoy its crowdedness. This feeling of being on the one hand absorbed by books / isolated from the world of the others and on the other hand being part of their world with us all being crowded in such a small space, usually thrills me. This is also one of the many factors why I love New York - so my fondness for Strand kind of makes sense

...

P.S. The first chapter would usually be made available to the browser like on amazon.

it's ok. the advantage is price more than anything else. the cult-like devotion to the strand is mostly marketing. the day amazon starts pricing books more competitively than the strand again, strand will have no reason to exist.

>What'd be your perfect book store?

Powells Books in Portland OR, but without price gouging. So basically Powells pre-2010 when it became a tourist destination. It's a really good bookstore

I am the manager of a small bookstore in a large city.

I can tell who you guys are based on the books you put on your applications and I never call you into interviews because you've all got superiority complexes and couldn't recommend 9/10 people books they would like if you had to do it to save your life.

luckily for me im not applying for $10/hr retail jobs then

This. Whether or not you agree with someone's literary interests, you should be able to adequately give them selections they would enjoy.

This one inside a 13th century church is pretty based. Doesnt really have any reading spaces or the like though since thats not really a thing here.

My perfect bookstore is the internet. I get to download shit for free and don't have to interact with people.

I love your idea of a book store

I imagine it being crowded allows for some good lit chit chat with other customers

Good for you? We're a good option for people who are.

Veeky Forums has very narrow interests, and so even what's to their taste and what they could imagine would be to other's taste is still functionally useless for a bookstore employee, which caters to the general population and not just university students and literary Oblomovs.

The best readers in my store read literary fiction, philosophy, that heady stuff, but they will also polish off thrillers, Y.A, that kind of more commercial stuff, and they can make recommendations in those areas too.

Anyone from Bradford, UK here? I really like that Waterstones inside that old synagogue.

It's like you're trying to bait me, user. All seriousness if someone asked me for recs I would do my best to recc something they would enjoy even if i didn't enjoy it myself.

For me, its amazon

>The best readers in my store read literary fiction, philosophy, that heady stuff, but they will also polish off thrillers, Y.A, that kind of more commercial stuff, and they can make recommendations in those areas too.

complete lie. take it from someone who actually "owns" a bookstore (its the family's).

If you mean your "best costumers", ok. That may be. Generally girls who read YA garbage are the ones who buy the most. They buy their shitty books weekly and probably don't read any of them.

But "best readers", that is, people who actually read, they only buy two to three things: (i) actual literature, (ii) technical books, (iii) kids books for their kids. And I mean "kids books", not YA.

Those are the people who will discuss what they read and actually be able to maintain a conversation.

I mean the people on my staff. And they can all hold a decent conversation about the appeals of what they read.

Also, aren't you superior? How exactly do you know these people aren't reading and just buying? Why does everyone have to have a discussion about books? Can't they just enjoy them for what they are?

>putting books on your application
I've had that asked in an interview, but what fucking application asks that. You have way too much time to fake the perfect answer.

I've received resumes listing forum handles. Don't underestimate the stupidity of the general populace.

I'm sorry, but that isn't business. That's an elitist bookclub, otherwise known as Veeky Forums.

not barnes and noble

Amazon but the books don't have to come all the way from the US.

I'd like to have a bookstore that's more curated, kind of like comic book stores really, where I and my staff can basically vouch for everything in the store and want to hear what you would like to see more of. Used and new. And a few nice chairs hidden around but dense with books. And I'd sell coffee up front and there's only be two kinds, coffee and good coffee. $1.50 I pour you a cup from the pot I've always got going, but $5 and I whip you up a French press.
Also, and the curation helps here, no sections. Just Fiction and Non-fiction, all arranged by author. I'd have a plaque hanging somewhere with the Revel quote "There are no genres, only talents."

I like the idea, but you'd need money. Probably a lot.

I could also imagine stumbling upon such a place off a small sidestreet or back-alley and becoming addicted to visiting.

Holy shit, I'd never do that.

I would exclusively staff monks, scribes, and scholars. Naturally, we'd stock Latin texts, but there could be a few stray tomes around in Old French or German. No coffee, only unmixed wine. It could get rather noisy seeing as how the employees only know how to read out loud. Also, all sales are final.

it's a social thing, have to show off you're in a bookstore, you know?

what's it like working there?

My perfect bookstore:
> has a coffee shop on the second floor with non-fiction literature
> has a book club that offers discounts to members and a free copy of the book that is currently being read
> large collection of the classics
> large collection of poetry
> large collection of coffee table books on art and artists
> places to sit while reading
> Brian Eno plays gently on the in-store sound system
> little charming recommendations written beside specific books that staff members have read
> able to purchase niche board games and charming gifts there too
> every ten books you purchase offers a free book
> seasonal sales, 10% off for normies, 25% off for book club members
> play Catan and D&D with my niggas when I get home

>literary Oblomovs.
literally me desu

Just put one; "Anonymous".

How middlebrow

no trappist ales, father?

muuuuuh freee stuffff

>accountancy firm
>21st century

Nugget meal with fries please

Book stores aren't a viable business any more, so I'd probably sell avocado toast on the side.

1. Need membership to borrow books
2. Membership is free
3. People use your merch without paying
4. ????
5. Profit!

answer me you fucks

I found my ideal bookstore a few years ago

>antiquarian bookseller, operating out of the main floor and basement of a nice two storey home
>good online presence, so I can look up stock before coming in
>owner is in his mid-fifties, we like to chat about books and bindings when I come in
>holds volumes with specific publishers for me if he see's them at book sales

>cut to around two months ago
>at another bookseller in town, chatting while he rings me up
>"Do you ever shop at so-and-so's bookstore, user?"
>"He had a brain aneurysm last week. Died in the hospital that night."
>"His funeral was yesterday. His family doesn't want the store, so it's probably going to stay closed."

Got me right in the feels.

I also dream of this.

My ideal book store:
>dusty, dirty windows
>whole place smells musty and smoky
>books piled on tables with no apparent pattern or configuration
>dishevelled owner always hungover and smoking in the corner

Gross

No

i've never been in a bookstore in my life

Please tell me this isn't true user ;_;

All too true.

Interesting. Why is that?

1. Well stocked (with an emphasis on philosophy); there is a separate reading area and you may purchase coffee/tea/juice at the entrance of the bookstore
2. No inferior literature (e.g. YA, fiction)
3. No contemporary "philosophers", i.e. vermin that have politicized philosophy (Sartre, Foucault, etc.)
4. Only whites without piercings/tattoos are allowed to enter
5. Dress code: modest (e.g. knee-length skirts for women)
6. Smoking is allowed

Philosophy has been politicised since the Greeks.

Sounds like a millennial upstart

Remove the whole smoking thing and this sounds like paradise!

>No food
>No drinks
>Door automatically locks itself when opening the door and can only be reopened with a special key (made of very tough materials, preventing it from being broken down)
>(and by that I mean the door naturally, not the key)
>Same thing for the windows, very thick glass
>A screen would also automatically cover the windows preventing view from outsiders when a customer is inside
>The building would be situated in some distant place in the town where few other buildings are present
>A sign would say closed but said sign would be face down lying on the ground
>The building would have a worn-down appearance and would seem quite small from the outside, but it would actually be pretty big
>Upon arrival, the cashier would be absent and hidden in some other room
>The layout would be complex and the first few rooms would feature bad books, mostly Y.A
>As the customer progresses through the book stacks scattered across the floor, the bookshelves ready to tip over and the fake doors and passages, he would eventually reach the classic's room
>A wide selection of classics ranging from many cultures, epochs, languages and so on and in decent condition
>(there would also be another hidden room featuring the best classics in mint condition for the most daring)
>The worker there would act as a guide to the client, helping him along his journey (think the owl from Ocarine of Time)
>The cashier would also change identity as the customer progresses through the bookstore, upgrading from some trashy middle-aged woman to a more reasonable one until his final identity would be revealed, that being of an erudite elder or a cute (!) literary cashier, whichever represents the customer's fondest desire
>In this final stage, the worker there would also give some completely random info regarding his town, that really nobody would know about, but that would end up being pretty useful in weird and unexpected ways
>The building would randomly teleport itself across the town, but always in hard to reach places and away from other places
>The layout would be randomly generated and new traps would be added regularly, making it a challenge even for regulars

The idea is that the difficulty of accessing and using the bookstore would mirror the difficulty of reading and understanding the classics. Likewise, the reward would mirror the advantages one gets from engaging with the classics. It would also be great to keep the plebs away and ensure the sanctity of the bookstore.

akugatawa looks kinda western, it's that long foreheard of his

running a business like a dungeon crawler is just bad for economic gain (but it's such a fucking cool idea that I'm going to play Legend of Grimrock for the rest of the day)