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Pub Res Q (2014) 30:185194
DOI 10.1007/s12109-014-9348-5
David Emblidge
Published online: 13 May 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Abstract New York-based Brentanos Bookstore (18501996) demonstrated growth and resilience when the economy or their business went up or down, but Brentanos never adopted the deep discounting that became a modus operandi for American booksellers and book clubs from the 1930s onwards and especially after World War II. Resistance to deep discounting spelled doom for Brentanos, particularly when Barnes and Noble became a competitor in the 1980s. Over many decades, Brentanos experimented successfully with innovative retailing techniques, including bookstores on ocean liners plying Atlantic routes, serving upscale, multi-lingual, international readers. The on-land bookstore chain, in several cities, peaked at 28 stores in the 1980s and was known for its well read, impeccably dressed, courteous staff, setting a model of effective handselling. Tension between appealing to rareed tastes of elite consumers vs. meeting practical demands of ordinary shoppers manifested in Brentanos bookselling tactics. Conglomeration in US publishing eventually dissolved Brentanos publishing operation as well.
Keywords American Brentanos Books Bookseller Bookstore
International Language New York SS Constitution Publishing Paris
Brentanos had been my second home. It had educated me every bit as muchas my formal schooling. It had nourished me, helped me nourish my family. And soon it too would be a ghost. (Boroson [1, p. 10])
The New York City-based Brentanos Bookstoreapproaching 150 years in business, spanning several generationsdemonstrated extraordinary capacity for growth and for resilience when the economy or their bookselling business went haywire. However, even with the Brentano familys assertiveness and innovativeness,
D. Emblidge (&)
Writing, Literature and Publishing, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116, USA e-mail: demblidge2@gmail.com
Brentanos: Books Aoat on a Sinking Ship
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there was in the end a key, required element missing here for long term survival. Brentanos did not adequately embrace the changing business model for bookselling in the 1960s1980s, when deep discounting became the name of the game.
Observing Brentanos in one of their most imaginative ventures (curated bookshops aboard ocean liners, in the 1950s) is amusing to do from some historical distance, and we see in this initiative the aggressive, imaginative tactics of a bookselling innovator. However, knowing that...