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My favorite panel this year was From the Front Register:  Bookselling Today with Allison Hill of Vroman’s Bookstore, Emily and Michael Powell of Powell’s Books, Paul Yamazaki of City Lights, and Patrick Brown of Good Reads as moderator.  Here are some of my favorite snippets:

Q:  How has Border’s bankruptcy effected bookselling?

• Allison noted that there was a Border’s on each side of Vroman’s and it is the ‘last man standing.’  While she deplores the closing of any bookstore, it’s been good for business as Border’s customers switched over.
• Paul said that there wasn’t a Border’s near City Lights so there hasn’t been a difference in the store, but he felt that any reduction in brick and mortar stores would reduce sales of all books.
• Michael quipped that he didn’t want Borders to go away, just leave Portland.  Portland was conspicuously absent from Borders’ list of closed stores.  His main concern is that Borders comprised $3-4 million of income to the publishers and while a portion of that will spill over to other venues, some of it will be lost.

Q:  How are you reacting to ebook sales?

• City Lights continues to stay focused on the traditional book.  They are finding many readers aged 15 to 30, making very informed reading choices about what they will read in a book and what on a reader, and they have a strong commitment to print.
• Powell’s doesn’t view books as an either/or choice.  Bookselling is fundamentally about curating and the choice of ebook vs print may be similar to choosing between new and used books.  They are looking to integrating technology into their store, but as Michael noted, it’s expensive and beyond the reach of the typical bookstore.
• As for Vroman’s, only a small percentage of its sales thus far is from ebooks.  The staff is still trying to figure out how to teach the customers to look to Vroman’s the curator of all their reading choices regardless of vehicle.
• Several panelists noted that the Kindle is a closed world, there is no room for indies and that people need to consider how they want their world to look like when they spend their money.  Do they want local businesses in their community or not?

Q:  How are stores balancing the need to create an experience in the store with the need to make a profit?

• Emily Powell felt that bookstores view themselves a bit like Starbucks where a specific atmosphere is created while still selling coffee.  Store should sell more than books, also space and events.  Powell’s offers unique services such as their Indispensable which packages a book with add ons.
• My favorite question was from a grad student who asked how he could support bookstores but not buy books.  He felt that buying books from a bookstore was inefficient, but he loved the browsing experience.  Could he just send in $10 a month like he does to NPR?  Michael Powell suggested he give money directly, in fact he could save himself the trip and just mail it in.

The panel was hopeful for the future of bookselling.  Several panelists mentioned that the perception of doom and gloom for bookstores was not factual.  That while there are closings, the rate of closings has leveled and there are many stores opening.  They all acknowledged the difficult market, but none felt the era of the book or the bookstore was over.