I was surprised and puzzled when Amazon announced it would open a number of traditional bookshops.   Having just visited one of the stores (in Lynnfield, MA), I’m no less puzzled.

Pretty much from the day it sold its first book online in 1995, Amazon.com has been the reliable bogeyman of the book industry.  Publishers admire its success grudgingly and reluctantly, but they also fear Amazon’s overwhelming dominance of the online bookselling market and the negotiating power it gives the company.  Other booksellers tend to have a less nuanced approach to their giant competitor: they simply loathe it.  Ask any independent bookshop owner to identify the greatest threat to their existence and you’ll get the same one-word answer every time: Amazon.

I think my own attitudes to Amazon are fairly typical of those who love books and bookstores, and those attitudes are riddled with inconsistency and hypocrisy.  I love the range it offers.  I like the prices.  Who doesn’t?  But I recognize that every time I buy a book from Amazon.com, I’m contributing to the demise of something I love and cherish: independent bookshops.

The Amazon bookstore in Lynnfield, which I’ve now visited several times, is innovative in one respect.  It makes extensive and very explicit use of the data acquired via Amazon.com about customer buying habits.  One section of the store is devoted to titles with the largest number of online reviews, another to what’s selling online to consumers in Massachusetts.  You get the idea: this is a store constantly reminding you that there’s a much better store somewhere else online.  This isn’t a bookshop promoting reading, authors, or books.  This is a bookshop promoting Amazon.   I don’t think Amazon is fooling anyone.  The Lynnfield store was practically empty on every occasion I visited it.  Unless these stores drive customers to Amazon.com – and you can be sure Amazon will be measuring that very carefully – maybe, just maybe they’re going to fail.  One thing’s for sure.  Local booksellers won’t be shedding any tears.