Theos-Talk Archives (February 2004 Message tt00044)

stevestubbs wrote:
> Business is business.
>
> The US economy is being systematically dismantled and shipped 
> overseas anyway. May it soon be put out of its misery. There is no 
> reason for small publishers to remain in business.
There is evolution, and there is crabgrass. If you are not into 
gardening, crabgrass is an extremely hardy plant which grows very 
readily in the late spring and eary summer, but dies in mid-summer. It 
has broad leaves, so it blocks the sun to other plants (such as regular 
grasses). So it kills off the other plants, then dies itself, leaving a 
bare patch in its wake.

This is the danger of many of these megastores. And it HAS happened in 
the past. For example (and I know, the vegetarians here will say this 
was a GOOD thing), in a neighborhood in which I used to live, there were 
5 barbecued chicken places. Boston Market moved in, and, because they 
were able to undercut these other restaurants on price, put them out of 
business. But then Boston Market found that there was a reason why the 
other places charged higher prices, and closed down the branch. The 
result: No barbecued chicken places at all.

As long as there are independent bookstores to put out of business, 
Amazon and Barnes & Nobles will continue to carry a large variety of 
books. But, once they have a monopoly, they will have no motivation to 
keep the less profitable lines going.

Bart