Harry Potter and the Death of the Indie Bookstore
I posted along these lines just before “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and I’m making a smiliar point now. Yes the whole Harry Potter phenomenon is great for children, great for books, and great for the publishers (it’s also great for JK Rowling, but then it does prove anyone can strike gold if they try hard enough).
You’re going to see a massive amount of discount offers from the mega-chain bookstores, and even in stores like Asda and Tesco. Pure loss leaders they’re hoping that you’ll come to them to buy cut-price Harry Potter (where they lose money) and do your daily shopping that week. It’s crazy to the point where one chain is giving away another book to get you into their store (or more importantly not into a competitors).
And further down the road, the little independent bookstore, who struggles along every year jsut ocvering bills but providing good quality reading and ecclectic non Top-10 based reading misses out on the Potter gold rush because they can’t afford to sell a loss leader. So they have to stick to the cover price.
If you’re buying Harry Potter this weekend, then seek out that little shop. Okay it’s not going to save you a few pounds, but you’d miss that little bookshop wouldn’t you when it gets replaced with a clone of every other mega-store, right down to the little teeny coffee bar in the corner
