Cosy, welcoming, packed with culture: here are some points on why bookstores can not entirely be substituted by the online services we access daily.
Among the irreplaceable things about the bookshop around the corner is definitely its atmosphere. While online shopping, which is altering bookstore industry statistics, is definitely effortless, available at all hours and delivered to the convenience of your own home, there is something special about strolling into a bookstore and losing yourself among the shelves. Browsing is an enjoyable activity, particularly in a cosy, calm, and welcoming setting like a bookshop, where you do not have to worry about discovering the right size, or expiration dates. This is one of the reasons major investors like Elliott Advisors are supporting bookstore chains, having faith in the distinct environment they provide.
Although the launch of digital books definitely made things more convenient for readers - think, for example, of the functionality of storing a small accessory in your bag instead of filling your luggage with ten books if you're travelling - most people will agree that there is an unique comfort in feeling the paper under your fingers as you lose yourself in your favourite book. The joy of the physical entity, where you can mark your favourite parts or enjoy the smell of the paper, as lots of passionate readers do, is a driving factor of why bookstores are making a comeback after the introductory novelty of ebooks. As companies such as Bertelsmann direct their financial support to this traditional form of media, it seems like physical books - and their stores - are not going to leave us any time in the future.
The human element of real-life interesting bookstores is definitely something lacking in the equivalent online services. Having recommendations from knowledgeable people who spend their lives working around books is definitely more useful - and appropriate to your individual interest - to the unidentified ratings one might come across online.
Bookshops play a really important role in local communities, particularly in the close-knit, smaller sized ones, like towns or villages. While those who reside in a big city, and are accustomed to travelling about, will not frown upon the idea of moving to find a bookshop, if your ordinary shopping trip is just down the high street of your town centre, you are not as likely to go out of your way for a thing that isn't strictly indispensable. Advocates of book chains, like Schottenfeld Management Corp., are well aware of this. Making books more easily accessible to everybody, for example by having even one tiny bookstore easily reachable for a small town, will motivate those who are not used to reading to approach the literary world, improving literacy. Individuals who do not regularly access online services, like young children or the elderly, would also be benefitted.