Originally published on Facebook Oct 13 2013.
Open letter to the independent bookstore:
Today I was told that a reader of my acquaintance drove past the Barnes and Noble superstore in his immediate neighborhood, with its massive selection and ample parking, to travel the additional twenty minutes of local stop-and-start driving to the your establishment, which is in the middle of a narrow store-lined block where the only parking is in an expensive hourly garage or in limited curbside spaces next to parking meters.
He circled the block until he found a spot, parallel-parked, fed the meter, walked to your store, and entered your establishment: the one which, counting travel time to and fro, he had already invested more than an hour additional time out of his day to patronize on principle, instead of just going to the huge corporate megastore, which would have been faster and easier.
He checked the children’s section first and did not find GUSTAV GLOOM AND THE FOUR TERRORS.
So he went to the information desk, finding one of several employees on duty having quiet time at a point during the day when they might have outnumbered the actual customers, and explained that he had promised his eight-year-old daughter he would buy her this book in the series she loved, today, and start reading it to her tonight.
The store employee told him it was not out yet.
Actually, my friend said, I happen to know it’s at Barnes And Noble. I saw it there. It came out earlier this week. Plus, I know the author personally, so I have the knowledge that if a bookstore intends on carrying the book, it should certainly already be on the shelf.
Oh, the employee said, I mean that it’s not on the shelf of THIS STORE yet. It’s still in the stockroom. We just haven’t shelved it yet.
My friend said, well, if the book exists, shouldn’t it be on the shelf? And if a customer who drove a significant distance to get here, and paid for parking, and also happens to be a friend of your boss, and has cash he wants to exchange for the book today, is standing here in front of you, when you are clearly not overwhelmed with day-before-Christmas type numbers, shouldn’t you go into the backroom and bring that customer the book?
No, the employee said. We won’t shelve the new books until tomorrow. But you can come back tomorrow.
Thank you, my friend said.
He left the store and got back into his car and drove back to his neighborhood and went to Barnes and Noble and bought the book, which delighted the eight-year-old he did not want to disappoint.
Independent Bookstore Employees: We, of course, understand that a customer cannot be allowed to interrupt your routine in any way. After all, they are in your power, not the other way around. Independent bookstores are doing so well, after all, and there are certainly no options anywhere that allow an interested consumer to get any book he wants at the click of a button. And, from what he just told me, he will not be bothering your particular establishment any more, so there won’t be any more of those pesky easy-to-answer questions or unscheduled trips to the back room. Good for you! You sure showed him! And I’m sure your boss, his friend of 25 years, will be delighted by the letter he’s writing!
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