PITTSBORO — Local bookstores are in bad shape.
It’s not a recent phenomenon; since the advent of online megalodons such as Amazon and the proliferation of e-readers (besides the fact that people just don’t read books as much as they used to) the one-time retail staples have been fading into the obscurity of niche interest.
In the last eight months, in fact, the bookstore plight has worsened. More than one independent seller has closed per week since the coronavirus pandemic began in earnest, according to the American Booksellers Association. A combination of dwindling customer support and higher expenses make the landscape increasingly untenable.
Just ask McIntyre’s Books.
“The floor just fell out from under us,” said Keebe Fitch, the founder and manager of the bookstore in Pittsboro’s Fearrington Village.
She opened the store in 1989 when her parents, R.B. and Jenny Fitch, were still developing the Fearrington project. Since then, she has watched the independent bookstore model become marginalized over her three decades in business.
A cursory examination of data would suggest otherwise, however. Book sales have risen in 2020, increasing more than 6% compared to last year, according to NPD BookScan, a publishing industry data collection and tracking company. But indie shops are underrepresented in the figures. Besides online retailers, nationwide chain stores like Barnes & Noble command a disproportionate segment of the market.
The big box stores will never match what independent booksellers like McIntyre’s have to offer, though, staff members say.
“If you go to a Barnes & Noble in Durham and a Barnes & Noble in L.A., you’ll find the same selection,” said Pete Mock, a McIntyre’s book buyer since 1995.
“And everything they’re buying is determined by a group of people in New York or somewhere,” Fitch added. “… Local is better. Bigger is not better.”
The big chain stores see books as products, she said, much like how Jeff Bezos saw books when he decided to open Amazon — they made up a diverse and expansive commodity.
But McIntyre’s is different.
“To us, it’s not a product,” Fitch said with chagrin. “It’s a book.”
The fundamental difference in philosophy dictates the way McIntyre’s operates. In the quaint shop, stocked floor to ceiling with thousands of books across half a dozen rooms, its customers have come to expect a customized and intimate shopping experience. It is what Fitch and Mock describe as “bespoke” — McIntyre’s selects books according to its readers’ individual preferences.
“I get to know the people that come in,” Mock said. “As I’m ordering I think about them and what they might like to read.”
Mock’s life has revolved around books for almost 40 years. “In college I spent more time in the bookstore than in class,” he said, laughing. He realized then that books were inextricable from his being.
Even outside of work, Mock does little that doesn’t involve books. He never watches T.V.; he only reads. In any given year, Mock will read more than 200 books — four or five per week. The mystery genre is his favorite (it provides “escapism,” he said, “I want to get away from things, especially now”) but his appetite for new reading material covers the spectrum.
And with every new book he reads, Mock ponders which customers might enjoy it. When they next visit the shop, he is poised to make targeted recommendations.
“How he has the mind to do that,” Fitch said, “I don’t know … Pete is a craftsman.”
In recent weeks, Mock finished “The Searcher: A Novel” by Tana French, which he described as just “O.K.,” and “The Kingdom” by Jo Nesbo which he preferred. His most glowing review, though, was for “Homeland Elegies” by Ayad Akhtar.
“What a book,” Mock said, “just what a book. It’s the best book I’ve read all year.”
The complex, socio-political autofiction (a fictionalized autobiography) novel has also found its way on the New York Times’ 10 best books of 2020 list.
“It starts with a three-page history lesson that’s a punch in the gut,” Mock said, “and ends with a perfect sentence that sums up the whole thing.”
Other favorites include Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land” and “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art” by James Nestor, a non-fiction investigation into ancient breathing practices which Fitch especially enjoyed.
Even when the store’s four staff members, whom Fitch has managed to keep employed throughout the pandemic, are not on hand to give personalized suggestions, though, customers can browse the store’s “recommendation flags” — paper tabs that decorate various books around the store with staff-written reviews and teasers.
“It was a great idea of Keebe’s and our customers love it,” Mock said. “They get to know our handwriting, so if we’re not here they still know what’s good.”
It’s those little touches that set the store apart from its competition.
“They work hard to make a genuine connection with us,” said Tom, a customer who was browsing in the store one day last week.
But the store’s personal touch and unique selection were not enough on their own to keep McIntyre’s Books above water when the pandemic hit. In-person sales dropped off precipitously with the first round of restrictions, and the store didn’t have an online marketplace.
“We’d had a website a few years ago,” Fitch said, “but it wasn’t worth it at the time.”
She scrambled to reestablish McIntyre’s online presence in March, but site developers were backlogged.
“Everyone wanted their websites made or updated,” Fitch said, “so we were added to the waiting list.”
After several months in limbo, mcintyresbooks.com finally went live two months ago.
“We had more sales in the first day back online in October,” Mock said, “than we’d had in the three years of having a site before.”
McIntyre’s has also taken its hallmark event hosting routine to the virtual world.
“We don’t have any (in-person) events which hurts,” Mock said. “We were very event-driven.”
In the past, McIntyre’s has hosted big-name authors several times per week for interviews, Q&As and book signings. The schedule has slowed down now in the virtual world, but Fitch is still working hard to book authors for online events. Interested parties can check the bookstore’s upcoming events on its website and reserve virtual seats through Eventbrite.
“We play a big role in the community,” Fitch said. “The authors we bring in are a big deal.” Standout names have included “Jack Reacher” series author Lee Child and New York Times bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz.
Shortly before the pandemic started, Mock recalled, the store had one of its most exciting events — a weekend double feature including Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and historian Jon Meacham. More than 600 attended.
“That kind of thing is amazing,” Mock said, glowing with pride. “We are very singular. There is only one McIntyre’s.”
But virtual events — even showcasing esteemed guests such as former professional basketball player and UNC legend Larry Miller and “Longmire” novel series author Craig Johnson — have failed to capture the same magic.
“They’re just not as good,” Mock said.
His melancholic sentiment transcends industry. Matching pre-pandemic fiscal health and community engagement is likely impossible for most small businesses; survival is the order of the day.
“I’m hopeful,” Fitch said of the store’s future. “I mean, books aren’t going anywhere.”
She and Mock are grateful to have seen the community rally behind them. “I’m so thankful for that,” Fitch said. It won’t be easy riding out the pandemic’s indefinite conclusion, but they hope that bolstered local support will carry them through.
“In some respects, we’re doing better than before,” Mock said. “People realize now that they have to keep their local stores alive.”
Reporter D. Lars Dolder can be reached at dldolder@chathamnr.com and on Twitter @dldolder.