Ali Baba's Cave.

I visited Barnes and Nobles the other morning with Linda, (she needed a day calendar).

This is going to sound strange coming from a independent bookstore owner, but -- Why do we even bother? Why does anyone else even open a bookstore? Barnes and Nobles is the bee's knees, it's the cat's pajamas.

It is so jammed back with goodies.

I love books. How can I not love Barnes and Nobles? It's like Ali Baba's Cave in there....

The bastards.

I started seeing book after book I'd like to have in my store. I started to track down Linda to ask for paper and pen, then my shoulders sagged in defeat. I put my blinders on.

I hates them. I hates them I do.

How can anyone compete?

And yet....compete we do.

Thank goodness for a small selection of really good books, and readers who recognize and appreciate a quirky but quality selection, and a good foot traffic location, and the impulse buying of the readers, and an incipient rebellion against the 'big boxness' of it all, and the need to patronize a place that is 'human' sized and has a human behind the counter.

And, our sales of books were up 16% this Christmas, and Barnes and Nobles sales were down 5%.

I should probably point out that books are very much a sideline for us, becoming more significant with every passing month. But I wouldn't presume to talk for all independent booksellers...

Barnes and Nobles is going to bear the brunt of the online and e-book thing, the Amazon thing, the discount and pirate thing, and the mass market competition thing. Borders is just a harbinger of things to come. (Borders is probably on it's last legs.)

All that space and prime locations and ubiquitousness and huge inventories? Turns out it costs quite a bit of money, and the money comes from borrowing, which is just fine as long as you're growing and constantly opening new locations.

Stumble even a little bit, and Barnes and Nobles will turn into Borders....

Ironically, most of the independent bookstores have faced these issues for years, and have adjusted.

What's fair for the goose, is fair for the gander.