Barnes and Noble had a bad Christmas. Too bad, so sad.

Barnes and Noble had a bad Christmas.  Unless I'm reading it wrong, they had a worse Christmas with their Nook business than they did with their brick and mortar bookstore business.  Which was apparently unexpected.

Apparently they are also closing their stores at a rapid rate.

There is some evidence that they need the bookstores to sell the Nook.  Obviously, it's too expensive to 'Showroom' books just to sell more Nooks, but that appears to be what's happening.  In other words, the less physical locations there are, the less exposure Nook gets and the less exposure the books that sell on the Nook get.

Quite the dilemma.

So these monster bookstores came into our communities and stomped the independents into near extinction.  Here in Bend, all five of the local indies eventually went out of business.  Several have come and gone since.  There is currently one indie left in Bend -- Between the Covers (GO! BUY A BOOK!) if you don't count my more selective and limited inventory.

I've often used the analogy of these monster stores being Dinosaurs, stomping the little critters into the ground.  But these were predatory Dinosaurs, they set out the stomp the little critters into extinction. 

But now the Dinosaurs are dying, and there isn't enough strength left in the eco-system to replace them.

I'm supposed to feel bad about this.  I'm supposed to regret their passing, if not for my sake for the sake of the eco-system of publishers and distributors and so on.

I can't summon any sympathy whatsoever.  We deserve what we get.  We'll continue to deserve what we get.  We get what we get.

Anyway, before I had ever heard the term "Showroom" for the phenomenon of people checking out the physical object at a store and then buying it cheaper online, I was well aware of it.

I always called the 'Showroom' -- the "support" system to a product.  It's where the customer goes to get the vibe, to get revved up, to see and talk to like minded people, the feel "part" of the subculture, to know they are not Alone, to feel, touch, taste and see the object of their desires beyond the sterile "bits" online.

Without a "support" system, a subculture slowly dies, becomes even more niche than it started out.  (No one ever believes this...sigh.)   I've seen it happen over and over again over the last 30 years.  The big leap into the mass market is actually a leap without a parachute.

I always use the example of sports cards.

Once upon a time I would get a case of the new sports cards and open it up and start handing boxes over my shoulder and there would be someone to take it.  We'd stand around and get excited and talk and compete and compare and set up 'player leagues' and trade and sell and have an all around good time.

Then one day, they started to slough off, run to the local discount, buy a box (feeling a slight twinge of guilt, maybe.)   Then they came back to my store and pretended they bought the product from me (which was funny, because I knew who I sold product to...)

But they'd still want to "stand around and get excited and talk and compete and compare and set up 'player leagues' and trade and sell and have an all around good time."

Eventually I had to shut them down, bring in other unspoiled product, and keep my business alive.  They drifted off, presumably to wander the aisles of the local Shopko.

Even later, I have an image of them looking at some cards online with their finger on the 'buy' button, really tempted because it was so damn CHEAP, and then not buying because -- for some reason they can't quite figure out, it isn't FUN anymore.

So go all subcultures, all niches, all hobbies that become dominated for any length of time by the chainstores.

People are often surprised that I consider the chainstores to be my main competitors -- not the internet.  I can live with the internet because it requires what I call "The Extra Step."  Breaking out the credit card, pushing the button at a distance, and then waiting.

I can compete with that because I have the product right here, right now.

I can't compete with another place that has the product right here, right now -- much cheaper.

So farewell, Borders.  Farewell Barnes and Noble.  Farewell all the Dinosaurs that will eventually follow.

The little mammals that scurry among the lava boulders will survive the massive asteroid of the internet.  But they'll always need to be small and savvy.  Hopefully, the local communities will cherish them.

Before it's too late.