Unfortunately, bookstores close all the time, and we’re used to the list of factors that includes words such as Amazon, economy and eBooks. It’s something quite different when a neighborhood indie collapses when the cornerstone is removed from the inside. That is the lament of former Queen Anne Books (Seattle) employee Wendee Wieking, as featured in today’s Shelf Awareness:
“This is not your typical story of a bricks-and-mortar store closing because of big box stores or the prevalence of e-books. No, this is the unthinkable story of an owner who had a dream of a bookstore and the financial resources to write the check, but none of the personal moxie to run a business. So after a mere six months and deciding the book business was not her game, she closed the doors and broke the trust with our beloved customers.
How can this be? For 14 years, Queen Anne Books has been the heart and soul of our community. Children who once
entered our doors holding a parent’s hand are now college students. Authors who launched their first books at release parties in our space are now New York Times bestselling authors. Our bookstore was a living, breathing, life enriching haven for readers of all kinds.”
Read “Love & Loss in Seattle: Ode to a Bookstore.”
Hadn’t even thought of the destructive power of dilettantism until now.