In praise of the independent bookshop
The shop on my street has been closing down for eleven years. Here is why it never does.
There is a bookshop on my street that has been closing down for eleven years. It has survived online shopping, e-readers, a pandemic and two rent increases. Every few months the owner puts a sign in the window saying the end is near, and every few months the neighbourhood buys enough books to keep it open. I have started to think the sign is part of the business model.
What a bookshop does that an algorithm cannot
Online shops are very good at showing you more of what you already like. A good bookshop is good at the opposite: showing you something you did not know you wanted. The owner of my local shop, Maud, calls this "the happy accident". It is the book face-up on the wrong table, the handwritten card that says trust me, the recommendation from someone who has read your last three purchases and has an opinion about them.
