There is no reason at all a physical book store should exist. They are simply obsolete.
I can think of at least one reason for a physical bookstore to exist—it’s a place to go, wander around, sample books, maybe have coffee and a snack, talk with your friends, take a date, etc. I hope the day doesn’t come when we lose all our interesting physical social gathering places.
I would disagree—MASS release bookstores are obsolete. But for those of us who deal in technical areas where they might not be readily available, even on a college campus, a brick-and-mortar bookstore still makes sense.
I relucantly concur, but will be sad to see them go. I like physical book stores, but go to them less and less. And I almost never buy a book without seeing what it costs online and what the customer reviews say. The few purchases I make at physical bookstores these days are “guilt” purchases. That is a sure sign they are on the way out.
That is a stupid statement. Then there is no reason any physical retail business should exist. We can buy anything we want or need online including groceries and we can work at distribution centers or for UPS or Fed Ex.
Except for 10^7 tons of perfectly good used and new books.