Ahira's Hangar

My apologies if there is already a thread for this somewhere else, but I felt this might complement the "used bookstores" topic. Over there, I said that I tend to avoid big used book sale events because I don't like crowds. It's the same reason why I also don't often go to the giant national bookstore chains (in our case that would be Chapters). They have a copious selection of titles, I'll give 'em that. But there's something to be said for the more intimate atmosphere of a smaller bookstore.

However, I do support a local Manitoba-based retail bookstore chain, McNally Robinson. Actually, come to think of it, our choice in the city right now is basically between Chapters and McNally. I think most - if not all- of the really small retail bookstores have already been out of business for years (though "squeezed" as much by the used bookshops as by the large chains, I reckon). McNally's stores retain a cozy atmosphere since they're inherently smaller than the Chapters branches, and because their interior design is more aesthetically pleasing than the Chapters "big box" concept. And as a regional touch, McNally carries titles by Prairie writers that Chapters probably would never touch.

McNally also happens, remarkably, to double as the best classical CD/DVD music store in the city. That's great for a classical lover like me. (Their jazz/folk selection isn't too bad either, along with some standard and not-so-standard pop/rock titles.) McNally's CD section isn't big, occupying just a small corner of the store, but it's the only remaining retail source of good quality classical recordings in our city, and at decent prices, too. I don't think Winnipeg has ever been a "hotbed" for classical music activity - Vienna we're not - but right now it seems like it's reached some kind of nadir. Not the best time to be a classical fan in Winnipeg these days, I reckon - strictly as a CD shopper. (Yeah, yeah, there's the internet, but I don't shop online, simple as that.)

McNally also has a nice 2nd storey level for children's books and family reading area. It's another way to distinguish itself from the more impersonal design of Chapters.

Chapters has its attached Starbucks coffee zone to lure more people in, while McNally has its own full-fledged cafe/restaurant. Both stores overcharge for their menu items, IMO, so I'm just there for books (and CDs). Mind you, I am a cheap bastard. Oh, and Chapters's CD selection by comparison is fairly lousy - unless all you're looking for is current Top 20 stuff. And classical? Don't make me laugh.

I don't know who, if anybody, is "winning" the retail bookstore war around here. Chapters clearly has the deeper pockets, but I sure hope McNally survives. I wouldn't want an independent bookseller like McNally to become another casualty of the "big box" corporate era.

So, after all that...what is your favorite retail bookstore?

The one I get gift certificates for.

--A

Here in Ann Arbor we are blessed by having some very good indie bookstores, as well as good used bookstores, and some big box stores. The problem is that the good used stores and most of the good indie stores, as well as the flagship world headquarters Borders store are all downtown, where parking is a bite on the butt.

So, unless I am downtown to go to a concert or the like, I usually go to the big box Barnes and Noble, or the mall Borders. The mall Borders has a better science fiction/fantasy selection, but the Barnes and Noble is on the way to work, so I usually end up there...

I did not know how good I had it, until my son went off to college in small city Indiana. They have a tiny selection abomination of a store called Books A Million at the mall; they have textbook stores near the university; and if there are any decent used bookstores (and you would think that enough kids go to that univeristy that there would be at least one great used bookstore) I sure have not been able to find them.

One of the things my son does when he comes home on breaks is to go to one of the big box bookstores in Ann Arbor so he can browse in the history section, and get a chance to sit down and look through the books without someone bugging him every three minutes "Do you need any help?" like they do at the textbook stores in Muncie.

My friends have all been after me to move down there and open a good used and/or indie bookstore, as there is a clear and pressing need.