|
Recent weeks have seen the sale of some Wesley Owen bookshops due to financial problems (see news coverage below).
I have bought many books from Wesley Owen in the past, but think that their stock selections at times have been far from ideal.
Three factors suggest to me that physical book shops may face a difficult future.
1. The recent closure of Borders - financial problems have not just affected Christian book shops
2. The growth of online book shops such as Amazon.
3. E-book reades (such as the Amazon Kindle) are perhaps starting to become mainstream (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/dec/28/amazon-ebook-kindle-sales-surge for example)
Is there a benefit of having a place selling good quality Christian books in a prominent location in our towns and cities? I think there is.
If so, and if I am right that these book shops will struggle to be financially viable as companies, then perhaps they need to be funded more like charities. For example, perhaps local churches, which already have links through gospel partnerships, could jointly subsidise a presence on the high street, and also jointly make decisions about what is stocked.
One of my problems with Wesley Owen in the past, has been my impression that decisions about what is stocked is based too much on what will sell, rather than what would be useful. But if we decide that bookshops are not going to be financially viable anyway, then if they are funded by donations, then there could be more of a focus on stocking things that will be useful in building up the church.
Do we have an opportunity now to rethink how Christian bookshops are managed in this country?
--------------
News coverage of changes at Wesley Owen:
IBS-STL announces sale of Authentic, STL and Wesley Owen stores
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/ibsstl.announces.sale.of.authentic.stl.and.wesley.owen.stores/24962.htm
Competitors save 14 Wesley Owen branches
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/107475-page.html
Press Release: December 22, 2009 - KOORONG EXPANDS INTO THE UK
http://www.wesleyowen.com/WesleyOwenSite/cm/koorong_press_release.htm
|
