EXPRESS READING
ARE BOOKS DYING?
In theory, the multimedia age should be killing off bookshops.
Who still has time to read books, what with surfing the Internet,
viewing scores of new digital television channels, and putting
in ever-longer hours at work? And presumably those few people
who do still read books will be buying them on the Internet.
After all, Amazon, a bookseller, is the most cited example of
a successful online retailer. So much for the theory. What
about the practice? This week the largest bookshop in Britain
opened up in the old Simpson's of Piccadilly in London. With
265,000 titles and 1.5 million books, the new branch of Waterstone's
stretches over seven floors. A department store, which once
sold everything from sushi to plus-fours, is now devoted entirely
to one product - books. The new Waterstone's is almost next
door to Hatchards, a mere five-storey bookshop, with a
well-established clientele, and two smaller bookshops. It is
also less than a mile from Borders, another huge bookstore in Oxford Street.
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