A fascinating story from Forbes, on how one man has done the seemingly impossible – built a successful independent bookstore in the age of Amazon. (As a side note, I find I’m increasingly impressed by the reporting coming out of Forbes. Perhaps they just hadn’t been on my radar, but in the last three months I’ve read a number of outstandingly insightful pieces there on issues from this one on the Harvard Book Store to several on Mass Effect 3.)
A former technology executive with a passion for reading and books, Jeff saw – like everyone else – that the digitization of content was destroying the neighborhood bookstore.
Imagine for a moment what it would feel like if people walked into your company and used the lobby to call your competitors and buy their products. That’s standard consumer behavior in a bookstore. People browse, find a book they like, pull out their smart phone, and order online.
Making an intuitive leap, Jeff wondered if the opposite could be true?