In the bookselling business, it's the best of times and the worst of times. Giants like Barnes & Noble and Borders are doing well. It's not the same story for little guys like Chapter 11 Bookstores. Next month, the independent Atlanta chain will close two of its three remaining stores to focus on its business-to-business service and Internet sales.
"Those seem to be the areas that are growing," said Patricia Marr, manager of the Chapter 11 chain. "Businesses don't want to have to walk into a bookstore. They want to place a call and have the books delivered." Trying to stay independent these days has all the shadings of a Dickens novel.
Chapter 11's troubles are just the latest chapter in the David-and-Goliath struggle between the remaining small players and giants that wield Wal-Mart-like influence in the multi-billion-dollar book trade. In 2005, American publishers posted nearly $35 billion in revenue, according to the latest data available from the Book Industry Study Group in New York. That's up from $32.7 billion the previous year.
Chapter 11's Sandy Springs and Ansley Mall stores will close May 12.
Its Emory Commons store is the last in a chain that had 16 stores in 2004 and boasted of prices "so low, you'd think we were going bankrupt."
The chain is now staking its future largely on selling to readers who buy online as well as school systems and companies with training departments.
The chain did just over $3 million in sales last year. Two years ago, the company filed for bankruptcy and was subsequently sold to Booklovers, a group of secured lenders that include the chain's previous owner, Perry Tanner.
"The secured lenders are trying to do the right thing to make sure everybody's paid," Marr said. "So they're closing stores to make sure everyone's taken care of."
Chapter 11 management says it hopes at least some of the 10 workers who will lose their jobs in the shuttered stores can be moved to the online side of the business.
In the local bookselling community, the Chapter 11 store closings feel like finishing a good book.
"Wow! There's never not been a bookstore at Ansley Mall," said longtime bookseller Tom Murphy. "That's sad because that's a fabulous place to sell books."
The charm of leisurely browsing through quaint, dusty dens of books has given way to hangar-size stores that lure time-squeezed consumers with lattes and discounts.
Read the rest of Joyner's article here.
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