Martini said she lives near the Books Inc. at Opera Plaza on Van Ness Avenue, which is \u201cdefinitely an area that just simply sees fewer people coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the initial news that Books Inc. had filed for bankruptcy was \u201ccrushing,\u201d but the announcement that it would be bought by Barnes & Noble felt more bittersweet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is \u2026 disappointing to lose what was an indie bookstore to something that\u2019s no longer indie,\u201d she said, but added that the stores remaining open is a definite upside.<\/p>\n
Another positive Martini sees in the deal is that Barnes & Noble is investing in the indie model \u2014 \u201cthey\u2019re seeing where the money can actually be made,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In 2024, Barnes & Noble purchased Denver-based Tattered Cover\u2019s book stores after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The chain has also been opening smaller stores that feel more local and personable, Martini said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you go into the newly opened Barnes & Noble that they are positioning, there are smaller footprints, they have much more obvious staff involvement, like handwritten shelf talkers, which didn\u2019t used to be the case,\u201d she told KQED. \u201cThey have front table displays that are definitely modeled after the indie selections.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because even as in-person book shopping declines, she said, indie bookstores offer a purchasing experience that\u2019s different from Amazon, or even Barnes & Noble. At those neighborhood stores, she said, people are more often introduced to new authors or titles, and more likely to pick up a book in a genre they wouldn\u2019t usually because it\u2019s on one of their aesthetic display tables.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat an indie bookstore does is [say] \u2018OK, here\u2019s the thing that you know about and have heard about, but here\u2019s something else that you never would have picked up without somebody who\u2019s plumbed through all of the thousands of pieces of publisher catalog copy to find the most interesting thing for you,\u2019\u201d Martini said. \u201cThe power of discovery is still what indie bookstores do best.\u201d<\/p>\n