Longtime book seller P.K. Sindwani had to solicit the kindness of 50 customer-volunteers last year when he packed up his store and moved to a new location.
It was a survival move, with the industry transforming at an exasperating pace. Onetime powerhouse Borders was steaming toward bankruptcy, casual book buyers were flooding Amazon.com and e-books were quickly catching on.
But a willingness to experiment and branch out beyond books has enabled Sindwani to stay in the game. It's a strategy independent book sellers across the country are adopting out of necessity as new competitive threats emerge.
"This is a tough business; we're selling a product that's available in lots of other places," said Oren Teicher, CEO of the American Booksellers Association.
"But there is an enormous amount of creativity and entrepreneurship, in which people like P.K. are figuring out how to adapt and change and do things differently, and managing to make it work."
Consider Joseph Fox Bookshop, the oldest independent in Philadelphia's Center City. It has operated for 62 years, even as other landmark bookstores downtown closed in the past decade.
Owner Michael Fox supplements the store's income by striking deals with corporations for books to be distributed at their special events. He also is exclusive provider of books for author events at the main branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia and elsewhere.
"We're at the center of all the big book events in Philadelphia," said Fox, whose long, narrow store is impeccably stocked and merchandised like a cozy private library.
