Bookstore sales fell nearly 30 percent during the 2020 shutdown, according to U.S. Census Bureau data

[basquebromance]

Physical bookstores, already decimated by Amazon, were nearly killed off with the pointless covid shutdown

 

[JOSweetHeart]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but how many bookstores are even still left in this country?

God bless you always!!!

Holly

P.S. Back in the day, the bookstore was my favorite place to be in the mall.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Bookstore sales are off due to Kindle.

 

[Papageorgio]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but how many bookstores are even still left in this country?

God bless you always!!!

Holly

P.S. Back in the day, the bookstore was my favorite place to be in the mall.

Still my favorite spot in the mall, the rest of the mall I won’t go to.

 

[Circe]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but how many bookstores are even still left in this country?

God bless you always!!!

Holly

P.S. Back in the day, the bookstore was my favorite place to be in the mall.

The only ones left now are the big box stores, and I think that means mostly Barnes and Noble. Yeah, they are going down, like movie theaters: not because people aren't reading, they are reading a lot! But because the platforms are shifting, to digital books and magazines and also audiobooks: can't buy those in a bookstore, not effectively. And THEN in 2020 the government stopped everyone from moving around and shopping, like China does!! So no one could go to bookstores anymore, and that was the only store I missed.

We're losing the big Barnes and Noble at a mall near here, and the one in my county is looking --- peaked.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

And yet...

Bookstores Make Surprising Comeback | National Review

The unexpected success of bookstores — even amid challenges from economic reality and the convenience of competitors — is something to celebrate.

www.nationalreview.com

Two years ago, the future of independent book selling looked bleak. As the coronavirus forced retailers to shut down, hundreds of small booksellers around the United States seemed doomed. Bookstore sales fell nearly 30 percent in 2020, U.S. Census Bureau data showed. The publishing industry was braced for a blow to its retail ecosystem, one that could permanently reshape the way readers discover and buy books.

Instead, something unexpected happened: Small booksellers not only survived the pandemic, but many are thriving.

“It’s kind of shocking when you think about what dire straits the stores were in in 2020,” said Allison Hill, the chief executive of the American Booksellers Association, a trade organization for independent bookstores. “We saw a rally like we’ve never seen before.”

The association now has 2,023 member stores in 2,561 locations, up from 1,689 in early July of 2020. Some of the growth reflects the renewal of memberships by existing stores that put off doing it last year amid the uncertainly caused by the pandemic. But there has also been a sharp and sustained rise in new bookshops, and more than 200 additional stores are preparing to open in the next year or two, Ms. Hill said.

Many stores have also seen a bump in profits. In a survey of booksellers earlier this year, the association found that some 80 percent of respondents said they saw higher sales in 2021 than in 2020, and nearly 70 percent said their sales last year were higher than 2019, Ms. Hill said.

 

[JOSweetHeart]

The only ones left now are the big box stores, and I think that means mostly Barnes and Noble. Yeah, they are going down, like movie theaters: not because people aren't reading, they are reading a lot! But because the platforms are shifting, to digital books and magazines and also audiobooks: can't buy those in a bookstore, not effectively. And THEN in 2020 the government stopped everyone from moving around and shopping, like China does!! So no one could go to bookstores anymore, and that was the only store I missed.

We're losing the big Barnes and Noble at a mall near hear, and the one in my county is looking --- peaked.

Books A Million is the store that my city still has. It is actually inside the mall and so of course it isn't as big as the store's other locations.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

 

[whitehall]

Wouldn't you think the opposite would be true and book sales would be popular during Covid. Why in the world does the census bureau keep track of such things? Not enough to do? How about keeping track of illegal aliens?

 

[lennypartiv]

Books become movies...so just wait until the movie comes out.

 

[bodecea]

Physical bookstores, already decimated by Amazon, were nearly killed off with the pointless covid shutdown

Kindle and Audible sales went up.....You're welcome.