[PUGACHEV]

I had a friend who owned a very successful record store located in a major East Coast city. Despite the fact that he had done well for many years, and was still doing well, by 1994 he could read the writing on the wall. He saw his store as closing within a decade, if not sooner. I had a conversation with him then and he called his business “buggy whips”.

[hinckley buzzard]

There seems to be a vigorous renaissance of interest in vinyl among collectors and audiophiles. Your friend may want to resurrect his buggy whip business.

[Cronos]

what did he do? did he try to diversify?

i wonder if bookstores would go the same way?

I think the big box bookstores will die out, but those that diversify into other things, toys, gifts, packaging materials will survive and strangely, if you've seen "You've got mail" -- I think now the small, niche bookstores with personalized service will survive, as they have charm.