Between the Covers is closing.

I've been told that Between the Covers is closing.

Dammit people!  Use it or lose it!

You want to live in a world of corporate giants, just keep giving them your money!

It makes me kind of mad, really. 

And it's really sad.

What's wrong with this town?  As William Akin said, we can support no end of breweries and bike shops, but the independent bookstores have a tuff time.  That makes at least 5 stores come and gone since Barnes and Noble splatted down.

I'll keep saying this and anyone planning to open a store in Bend should at least consider the possibility -- Bend is different.

It looks like a hip little metropolis.  But -- we're isolated, without an interstate, no real four year college (yet), no real major industries besides tourism and retirement which provide minimum wage jobs.  It's an extroverted town, so if you have an introverted business, watch out.

I would love to be a full new bookstore, but I can't really fit it in.  I can carry new books, no problem.  I can order new books, no problem.  But I can't do the full job.

But watching how people behave -- especially younger families -- keeps warning me off.  There is a huge disconnect between the way people think they behave and how they really behave when it comes to reading.

Parents seem to have all the confidence in the world that their kids love to read -- but I'm watching what they're really doing, which is barely glancing at the books, and instead hauling their huge bags of candy around the store.

People who actually check me out, seem to like my selection.  (Not carrying non-fiction is a big drawback, but I have a pretty good selection of fiction of all types, especially when used books are added in...)

I think I could do a separate full bookstore.    I've worked out all the angles.  But having opened and closed multiple stores, I also know that it's risky, expensive -- and most all -- stressful.  I just don't need that kind of stress in my life.

But someone could do it, I think.

So here's two pieces of advice.

1.)  Do it downtown.  Nowhere else.  Pay the cost, to get the foot traffic and the tourism.

2.) Books, books, books.  Carry lots and lots and lots of books.  Put ALL your money into inventory.  Don't get fancy and expensive fixures and doo -dads.  Don't divert space, time and energy on other things, like coffee or events or anything else.

Carry books.

I can almost guarantee that anyone who opens a store won't do that second of my suggestions, nor will anyone else tell them that.  In fact, they'll hear nothing but the opposite.

But I repeat.  Carry books.  Every nook and cranny of your stores.  Piled on tables, lining the walls, packed to stuffing.  On your head, under your toes.  Books. books. books.

If you do those two things, and you buy wisely, and you work hard, and you get lucky, and you understand the seasonal rhythms of downtown Bend, I think you could make it.