"Are independent booksellers replacing big-box retailers?" That was the provocative headline for an article in The Day focusing on Dan Iddings, who opened Classic Lines bookstore in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood last year.
"I had this fear that I would be the Amazon showroom--that people would look at our selection of products, then go buy them on Amazon," Iddings said, adding that showroomers have been far outnumbered by customers seeking literary refuge following the 2009 loss of the neighborhood Barnes & Noble bookstore. "People understand that there's only one way to keep a bookstore in the neighborhood--that's to buy the books."
