Anthem Book Blog

from Friday's PW Daily:

Haversack Books & Gifts, a four-year-old bookstore in Marietta Square, Marietta, Ga., is closing, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The store was founded by Mark Luther, who had worked many years as a buyer at Chapter 11. He told the paper that many potential customers believed his prices were higher than other book outlets, even though the reverse was often the case.

Luther also maintained that many customers did not value the store's high levels of service. "The under-30 crowd, especially, were raised in the corporate culture," he said. "They don't know about small business. They don't know or expect personal service."

Luther's quote at the end sums up a big issue. As a member of the under-30 demographic (barely), I feel like we need to get more people checking out independent bookstores before we create an entire generation of readers and college grads who think of the chains as the quintessential bookstore model.

How do we get the word out?