实体书店正在复苏

So-called brick and mortar bookstores, especially independent ones, took a painful hit when digital sites like Amazon came online. Stores closed on a regular basis. But, bookstores are going through a resurgence for a variety of reasons. The most surprising is because of the internet, not in spite of the internet.

Rows and rows of shelves are stocked with every kind of book imaginable here at Vroman's  Southern California's oldest independent bookstore. How old 122 years which means it has survived world wars, depressions, recessions and most recently, the digital age. But how

"People still want to come into a store. They want to pick up the book and look at it, they want to talk to somebody in the store who's maybe read it and I think that's what people don't get from ordering online, you just don't have a personal connection," Vroman's book buyer Sheeri Gallentine said.

After years of economic challenges due to the rise of on-line sites like Amazon, independent bookstores are making a comeback. Their numbers rose 21 percent from 2010 to 2015. It seems customers are willing to pay up to 30% more in exchange for the physical experience of browsing as well as other in-store enticements like events and gift shops.

"Sometimes you pay more to eat at a nice restaurant then you would to pick up food from it. It's because there are other dimensions to the experience than just the thing itself," Vroman's customer Dana Del George said.

One of the most unique independent bookstores, which happens to also be one of the largest in the world is here in downtown Los Angeles in this amazing old bank building. This is The Last Bookstore, the name is ironic since the business has not only survived, but continues to thrive year after year.

What started in a downtown loft in 2005 has grown into a massive two-thousand square meter space with more than 250-thousand new and used books we well as music and art. 
The internet, once the mortal enemy of bookstores, is now playing a large role in boosting business for The Last Bookstore.

"Social media has been a big part of our success, of our growth. Drawing in people who are coming in from out of town. Tourists who have come from all over the world,"Katie Orphan, manager of The Last Bookstore, said.

They do so because of The Last Bookstore's unusual attributes worthy of sharing on social media.

You've got this cutout that frames people really nicely so I see a lot of Facebook profile pictures.

So they're doing this 'hiiiiiii'.

This is our famous book tunnel. People come in all the time asking where to find this.

The store has a couple big vaults from when this was a bank so you can see the original door is still there.

And also still here is The Last Bookstore膝hich is doing its best to defy its namesake for as long as it can.

It feels very optimistic to us that people are shopping at us still, that new people are coming to us, that sales are increasing and not just holding steady. All of that feels very positive.