St. Mark's Bookshop Slashes Staff In Struggle To Stay Afloat

Vanishing New York's ominous pic.

East Village lit-lover haunt St. Marks Bookshop is the latest small bookstore getting squeezed by a combination of e-book sales and rising rent costs, The Villager reports.

“We were in a precarious position and when you add what happened with the economy in general—there you go," said store manager David Russo. “We’re particularly vulnerable to that because of the price of our real estate. It’s people turning to e-readers," he said, before explaining that “E-book sellers have changed what people’s perception of service is and what is legitimate to expect in a short period of time." Russo calls the combo of e-books and a high rent (which his landlord continually tells bookstore staff he could be charging more for) "the perfect storm."

Last fall, St. Marks was forced to lay off all of its part-time staff and reduce the hours of their full-timers, though he remains guardedly optimistic: “I wouldn’t say it’s merely a little tight, but I wouldn’t say we’re planning on closing the store right now."

It's been a rough time for bookstores lately—last month, Atlantic Book Shop was forced out of business for similar reasons, and some bookstores are considering charging for readings to stay afloat. Reports show that E-book sales in the US doubled in the past year, while paper books suffered double-digit losses.

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By Jamie Feldmar in Arts & Entertainment on June 24, 2011 3:41 PM

Comments [rss]

dogbertt

I've spent a lot of money at St. Mark's, and I feel for them, despite the haughty manner of their staff (which, reading that Villager piece, obviously comes from top down), but what do they expect? One of my most recent purchases there was a book that cost $27.95; one of the reasons I bought it there was that I was able to read it "right away" (as opposed to paying only $18.45 it on Amazon and waiting for it to arrive) and because I was certain there wouldn't be a Kindle version available. Come to find out later that there is a Kindle version and it costs $14.99, almost half what I paid at St. Mark's.

Obviously it's difficult for St. Mark's to discount as much as Amazon (and Amazon's Kindle sales undercut its own printed book sales) -- I have no idea how they can afford to stay in business unless they are somehow able to sell more of the kinds of books that are not available in e-reader form and that Amazon does not discount significantly. It seems to me that St. Mark's does carry a lot of books like that, as well as a good selection of periodicals you can't find at Borders/B&N/online.

Funny, though, I was in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago and noticed that there seemed to be many more bookstores there than remain in Manhattan, which I found odd.

Christopher J. Stephens

In other news, buggy-whip manufacturers point to falling sales as a reason to cut back production....

dogbertt

“E-book sellers have changed what people’s perception of service is and what is legitimate to expect in a short period of time."

What does this mean?

ambiguator

I hate to say it because I love supporting local businesses, but if your business is failing maybe it's time to rethink your business strategy. Cute and friendly as your shop may be, authenticity and originality don't always pay the bills.

garnetlove

Soon we will be left with NOTHING original in the city.

imadick

this won't be replaced with a borders or barnes and noble. your fear is ridiculous.

remember there used to a pizzeria uno around the corner on 3rd ave? it closed down. some buinesses succeed, others fail.

garnetlove

Don't know what you are talking about, I didn't say I feared anything. If you don't see all the speciality/unique businesses that are closing, you are the one in denial.