From a Q&A in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat with Tom Montan, CEO of Copperfield's, which has eight bookstores in Sonoma and Napa counties in northern California:
"We have been looking at and expanding many parts of our business, while shrinking others. New books, for example, are a slowly decreasing part of our business, while non-book items, sale books, and magazines continue to grow. We are in the middle of a process that will integrate much of our new, used and sale inventories on our shelves. So we'll have the same book but at different price points, on the same shelf. This has been driven by the consumer experience online. We all have begun to expect a choice of what format we want our books to be in....
"Ebooks today represent roughly two percent of the book retail market. Most experts say this year could very well be a tipping point year for this technology. This form of media has in my opinion a very long way to go. In the world of ebooks, I believe there is no place for a brick-and-mortar bookseller like Copperfield's. This medium becomes a direct connection between publisher and customer and writer and customer. There may even be a day in the not too distant future where the connection is content to customer--the self-writing book, if you will. I think it's naïve that some booksellers think the virtual format has any place in the brick-and-mortar store....
"We're about creating a place of connection in a physical space with people that share this need and want. Books are merely the point of connection. This is something that technology will not and cannot replace. You can buy the latest bestseller anywhere, at any time. The real factor that a bookstore provides is the sparkle and energy/excitement of sharing in a personal way.
"I think back to a book title by Marsha Sinetar that was popular 15 years ago. It was Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow. This is very applicable here. If we don't love what we sell, and can't find relevance in how we sell, and don't find the connection/community for selling this, then we might as well close up shop tomorrow. I will say that in light of all of these pressures, I think that the large majority of Copperfield's employees do what they love, and I think we are all richer for this in many ways. Not to sound too woo-woo, but it's all about love. Really."