Fuck, Kennys is closing

[johan]

One of the best bookstores I've ever been to is closing down, moving all its business online. Kennys is a marvellous place, the first place you head to when coming to the city of the tribes, cathair na Gaillimhe in Éireann. Cheannaigh mé leabhair as gaeilge ansin. Ach maireoidh an dhánlann, ar aon chaoi.

Not much I can say about this decision. If the profitability is much better online, it's madness to keep doing business face to face, but I hate it. Is this the future for all bookstores? God forbid.

Thanks Slugger O'Toole, the world's best Norn Iron blog, for letting me know.

Comments

[profundo-rosso.livejournal.com]

I felt the same way when Rog Peyton was forced to sell his share in Birmingham's Andromeda Bookshop.

[jophan.livejournal.com]

I never got to visit any of Rog's shops. I've only been to Birmingham twice, for cons. This is one area where time hasn't been kind to society: shops get mostly more bland and boring as time goes by, small specialists being replaced by chains.

[jlms.livejournal.com]

Oh no. :-( :-(

[hanspersson.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid that this may well be the future of bookstores. I'm definitely a sucker for a well-stocked bookstore where I can walk around browsing the shelves for a good while, pulling out stuff that I might like or just at random.

On the other hand, I'm also a sucker for being able to realize in the middle of the night on a Sunday that I need such-and-such a book. A few clicks later, I have placed an order for it, and a couple of days later it is in my mailbox. The sheer volume of stock that I can have at my command via the web is impossible for a bricks-and-mortar store to stock.

As an illustration, SF-Bokhandeln is a very well-stocked book store when it comes to sf and fantasy. And still I find myself wanting stuff that they don't have from time to time. I still shop there in person when I happen to pass by since I like the store, but it's also a fact that sometimes their stock isn't good enough. And they have a very good inventory. If I was confined to shop in only a book- and paper store like Bokia in a small town, I would be very limited as to what I could buy if I had anything but the most mainstream of tastes (which I happen to have).

Internet is a curse. But it is also a boon. Difficult, that...

[jophan.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree 100% with what you say. And of course, the 'net is a blessing. But I hate, abhor and deplore some of the side effects. And this one most of all. I suspect a few stores may survive in the form of warehouses with customer access. I've already been to a couple of those.

[teroyks.livejournal.com]

Oh my god! They killed Kennys!

(sorry…)

[jophan.livejournal.com]

*groan*

I can see why you're Targon. (Internal joke, in the Upsalan Tolkien-seura, people from Gondor are the most hopeless punsters.)