From the article:
SAN FRANCISCO - Former bodyguard Alan Beatts took a big gamble by opening a bookstore at a time when chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble and Internet merchants like Amazon.com were claiming an ever-bigger share of the market. So Beatts decided to carve out a niche by specializing in the science fiction and horror books he'd always loved. It was a smart move. A decade later, his Borderlands Books is thriving in San Francisco's funky Mission District. He sets up tables at horror and science conventions, and the genres' authors stop by for readings and book signings. Most importantly, nine out of 10 customers don't just stop in for a quick paperback. They keep coming back. "They are very appreciative" Beatts said of his passionate customer base. He estimates he's seen double-digit growth in each year since Borderlands opened. "There's an assumption that we have something in common which doesn't exist in the general interest stores."Now, I'm actually a fan of Borders Books, but they also seriously depress me. When they came into town where I used to live, the best you could get was a Crown Books or B.Dalton Bookseller, both of which absolutely stink. But instead of killing off all the supid "I buy the important, topical ephemera-du-jour that make me look smart and sophisticated" and "yay for chick-lit! Melrose-Place means never having to think for myself!" bookstores, Borders and it's toxic cousin Barnes & Noble have been killing off all the really cool little independent bookstores instead. So now we've got a world with big soulless megastores where at least you can find Teilhard de-Chardin, and smaller franchise-shops not worth stepping into, but almost none of the high-touch places run by real booksellers (the kinds of people who can not only look at you and tell what kinds of books you like, but can also tell you seventeen other books you've never heard of by your favorite author's second cousin's wife's nephew's little brother and how those books fit into where the genre or sub-genre is heading, not to mention why they complement your favorite author's work so nicely). There's a reason that bookselling has always been the living example of oxymoronity: the prestigious minimum-wage job -- because it's important and can't be replaced by big chains (who seem to be strictly hiring bubblegum snapping teenagers who think they're "so above this" and can't wait until the get out of college so they can have "real jobs"). Perhaps genre-stores will be the last bastion that can remain sufficiently successful that booksellers won't go the way of the soda-jerk. I for one certainly hope so.
