Visited Waterstones in Cambridge today for the first time in two months and was totally shocked. The stock on each of its four floors has been reduced by I would say around 60%. Each of the four floors now consist of large areas of nothing but empty space some seating and limited number of books scattered on the shelves round the edges. The classical music stock has shrunk to a handful of books and the once reasonably stocked history section is just a shadow of what it was. I wonder how long it will be before Waterstones disappear from the high street altogether, it can't be long, at the rate the stock is being reduced they'll be nothing left worth purchasing. Fortunately Cambridge still has Heffers which is still well stocked and appeared to be doing a good trade. I'm becoming very concerned that soon the bookshop will be a thing of the past to the detriment of all.
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I am afraid this is a tendency I by chance happened to notice in two (relatively) nearby Waterstone-shops here as well
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And that takes in account the fact that they have gone downhill considerably the late couple of years or so already before this latest development. -
We're all guilty.Comment
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Meaning what, exactly?Originally posted by Mandryka View Post
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
Mark Twain.Comment
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Buying from the river people, I would think.Originally posted by Mr Pee View PostMeaning what, exactly?I keep hitting the Escape key, but I'm still here!Comment
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Heffers is a wonderful bookshop and always worth a visit whenever I am in Cambridge but...I'm afraid my first port of call for books is indeed Amazon nowadays and to that extent Mandryka is correct - we are all guilty if Waterstone's bites the dust. Ditto HMV.Originally posted by LeMartinPecheur View Post"The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard HaitinkComment
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Hang On A Minute! A basic tenet of capitalism is that the customer is always King (those early capitalists huh?Originally posted by Petrushka View Post Never heard of Queens?!
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I shed no tears for Waterstones, one step up the evolutionary ladder from Jack Cohen's 'pile 'em high & sell'em cheap' philosophy and early negators of the Net Book Agreement.
I long ago shed my tears for the truly independent local bookstores with knowledgable staff and exemplary service
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Sadly, it often makes deafening economic sense to buy online rather than in the shops.
I visited a small independent bookshop today - one that I visit infrequently (I don't live nearby) but where I always try to buy something in the cause of doing my small bit to keep it afloat. Sadly, today's visit yielded no purchase - because the stock was woefully diminished. The place seems to be surviving by operating a cafe - in the fulness of time, I expect it to become a cafe, 'with a few books lying about for anyone who feels like making an impulse buy.'
Hatchards in Picadilly remains one of the few physical sites that is a pleasure to visit: if the environment is nice, the stock good and the staff prepared to go the extra mile(s) to ensure good and personal service, some customers will still be prepared to pay more. But it doesn't look good....Comment
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Hatchard's, long an independent bookstore of high reknown, has been a branch of Waterstones and thus owned by HMV, for quite some timeOriginally posted by Mandryka View PostComment
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There are still two Waterstones' here but when faced with the problem of ordering a book which is not in stock no-one makes any attempt to explain why it will take two weeks if an order is placed there and then.
Why hasn't this company made any attempt to improve its ordering system? Can it not even begin to compete with online stores?
I love to buy my books in bookshops and never search online before visiting them but the frequency with which I come away disappointed is beginning to register. Sadly, I fear I shall have to change my habits.
Thank heavens there are still a few second-hand shops around though even these are declining in number.
It is at times like these that I am glad I am as old as I am.Comment
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In the case of HMV, it's almost entirely their own fault, as they've been making the shopping experience steadily more unpleasant for several decades.Originally posted by Petrushka View Post
But this has been aired elsewhere...Comment
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Hatchard's in Piccadilly is nice, isn't it? Also Blackwells in Charing Cross Road.Comment
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I didn't know that. It would seem to have managed to evade HMV corporate culture.Originally posted by amateur51 View PostComment
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Having a poor level of stock and then being unable to provide a prompt ordering service really is business suicide. Even the staff yesterday at Waterstones looked totally bored and were standing around with nothing to do. I'm not so guilty of ordering books online, unless I know exactly the book I'm after and I can get in a shop. I like, especially with history, to browse a subject area and look through several books, hence online ordering isn't always practical. Cambridge lost another good bookstore last year in Hadley & Ottoway, I got some real bargains in there, it was always busy, but for some unaccountable reason, the owners decided to close it and now the property lies empty and unsold.
With CD's I'm that same as books, order online if I want something specific but equally like to browse in shops, I came away with some interesting purchases yesterday that I wasn't planning to buy!Comment
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I didn't know that either and would question whether that is in fact the case. Not getting confused with the enormous Waterstones nearby?Originally posted by amateur51 View Post"The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard HaitinkComment
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