Barnes & Noble to Shutter Upper West Side Superstore in NYC: "
Barnes & Noble announced today that they will shutter the Upper West Side branch--a four-story, 15-year-old bookstore.
One can't imagine feeling sorry for a corporate behemoth, but as Simon points out, this is what happened to the music industry. The megastores pushed out the mom and pop record stores, and we were mad, but we still shopped for records, and then they started closing too and we were genuinely sad, despite the poetic justice.
I'm sad for this neighborhood, too--Lincoln Square had a somewhat artistic flavor with B+N and Tower Records. Now it's all high-end clothing and furniture retailers, and that quite frankly has no value to bookworms of the egalitarian variety.
I'm the first to moan about big bookstores pushing independents out of business. And I adore (and support) my local independent. And yet, as a published author, I have to admit that my local chain store manager has been incredibly supportive in giving me signings and stocking my books. It's a sad day when ANY bookstore closes.
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