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.
That's the problem. Many people "sample" books at the bookstore, see something they like, pull out their smartphone and order it from Amazon right then and there. Not a good business model. And not just for bookstores either. For pretty much every store. Stores have become the places where we look at, handle and try out the items we eventually buy online. It'll be sad when they go but we consumers brought it on ourselves.
We always have FR! ;p
As I posted earlier, exactly! The bookstore EXPERIENCE is a very valuable business asset. Bookstores just have to realize that they are not going to make money on physically selling books!
But people will still pay for the bookstore experience if these companies will figure out ways to monetize it. I suggested, for starters, more emphasis on the cafe and creation of performance venues inside the bookstore (not the present just-stand-a-guy-with-a-guitar up in the corner thing)where people pay a small ticket price to see the show.
We had a coffee house where we used to live that had a performance venue in the back. It booked all kinds of acts, local bands, improv, etc. and charged a ticket price comparable to going to a movie. Since the venue was set up with a lot of tables as well, most people bought food at the cafe before or during the show. In this particular place, you could still hear the band out front, so some people came, bought food and listened to the show for free.
This coffee house was very successful financially. Imagine if this was done at many of the large bookstores and you knew you could pretty much always find a live music show or family-friendly improv to go to without doing the bar scene. I think this could become quite popular. Also the acts do a lot of self-marketing for their shows or may have a built-in following.
I miss the video rental stores for the same reason.