MetaFilter posts tagged with bookstore

Zoomii.

chunking express — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:51:57 -0800

Zoomii. An interesting interface for Amazon. From the about page:

Because I love bookstores. Spending afternoons wandering the shelves. Happening across great books I didn't even know existed. But it's an experience I never found online. Online bookstores are wonderful. They've got amazing prices, huge selections, and they're open all the time. If you know exactly what you want, they're perfect. But somehow I kept coming back to the bookstore just to browse. Zoomii is my attempt to bring online as much of the real bookstore experience as possible.

How Not to Run a Bookstore

malaprohibita — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:17:26 -0800

The Demise of Borders Books. Once calling itself a collection of individual stores and denying it was a chain, Borders, begun in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis, is in deep financial trouble. Competition from discounters like Walmart and Amazon, as well as rival Barnes & Noble, certainly factor into its current situation, but a number of bad business decisions and worsening employee relations are also to blame. After building a multimillion dollar distribution center and launching their own online store in 1998, Borders eventually abandoned both and let Amazon take over their web operations. Then in 2001, the chain underwent a restructuring that eliminated most of its community relations staff and began culling its once-prized inventory. The culture shifted from one of "book people" to Category Management, a grocery store-like model of marketing research financed by vendors. But as Borders is finding out, what works for other retailers does not translate well at bookstores. disclaimer: I worked for Borders for several years, and so am somewhat intimate with its history.

Hot off the presses, books printed, while you wait.

Toekneesan — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:16:17 -0800

Would you like a latte while I print that up for you? The Espresso Book Machine (previously) that was in the New York Public Library has just moved to the Northshire Bookstore in Vermont. The beta versions of this portable book-making machine are pumping out paperbacks around a book a minute at the Open Content Alliance, The Library of Alexandria, The New Orleans Public Library, and the University of Alberta. The mass produced commercial version of the machine is scheduled to roll off the assembly line within the year and will be priced between $50,000 and $20,000. Combined with one of these, publishing as we know it may never be the same. NPR's On the Media about the machine The Sunday Times on the EBM One of Time's Inventions of the Year

Is this the most beautiful bookstore in the world?

MrMerlot — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:57:10 -0800

Is this the most beautiful bookstore in the world? The Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen, Maastricht opened its doors in November. Located in the city's old Dominican church - which for years had been used as a bicycle parking garage - the building has been extensively redesigned by Dutch architects Merkx + Girod. From the images you can find on the web you can see that it is a bookshop made in heaven. Many books in English too.

Crackdollhouse? Dollcrackhouse?

jacquilynne — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:56:03 -0800

The Baltimore Block Real life in miniature.

Sylvia Beach

serazin — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:20:46 -0800

Shakespeare and Company, the first English/American bookshop and lending library in Paris, may be the most famous bookshop in history.

Mack Twain — Mon, 17 Jun 2002 16:09:31 -0800

Ever dream of owning a Bookstore? Essay Contest! $250 and 250 words could win this thriving Used Bookstore in Roseburg, Oregon. A very cool, very busy store with a customer base of well over 10,000 people. Someone is going to win and it might as well be one of us.

Blake — Sun, 17 Mar 2002 08:16:56 -0800

Down-to-Wire Deal Heads Off Book Burn
As a follow up on This Thread, Victor Kamkin Inc., the Rockville bookstore that became a mecca for those in search of materials on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, got a three-week reprieve so the Library of Congress can look through the bookseller's 1 million-piece collection to determine what should be saved.

scarabic — Wed, 13 Feb 2002 09:02:32 -0800

Stand up for sitting down! Management at Indigo/Chapters (a Canadian bookstore mega-chain equivalent to Borders) is drastically reducing the amount of comfortable seating in their stores chain-wide. This committed group of activists isn't taking the matter sitting down. Show your support!

machaus — Fri, 20 Jul 2001 05:17:35 -0800

Cat that lived in bookstore dies at age 20. What seems like a fairly cut and dried local interest story cranked out by hacks at our crappy hometown rag is ohhhh so much more. Click through to the comments to get the inside scoop.