Read to the end of my post. The New York photo and stereo sellers paid for their store fronts in prime locations. How did they do that?
Those kinds of stores still exist for books, it’s simply that it is the ingenuity of the proprietor who makes it go. Plus, like most small business owners, he probably lives a simpler life, foregoing the higher income he could get as a store manager.
Such a model doesn’t, and probably can’t exist, for a national chain.
Just search out those small guys.