Business is Booming (What It Means to
Bookstores, Authors and Creative
Entrepreneurship.) (And What Walmart
Has to do with it!)

Business is Booming (What It Means to Bookstores, Authors and
Creative Entrepreneurship.) (by Susan James)

Everything is cyclical and things move so fast these days, that it’s great
when the circle comes back around during the time that I’m in it.

Business is Booming. Just look around. Car Dealerships are bouncing
back and building new dealerships. Automobile corporations have
bounced back on their own, some without the government’s help.

Small Business is bouncing back. Contractors are getting more work,
building more homes and apartment complexes. Creative types are
using their creativity to develop their own businesses. And these
Creative types are finding ways to create income while expanding
every other facet of their lives.

But that’s not even the half of it. Walmart is adding ‘Walmart Express’
to its line of retail stores. They were going to build 30-40, but now it’s
hundred’s. (ref: WSJ digital 3/11 M. Bustillo )They want to compete
with the Dollar stores. This will create more jobs, while, once again,
making our day to day lives a bit easier. But still that’s not the really
good news.

Walmart, which was one of the main reasons we in the U.S. developed
The Big Box concepts in stores, such as record, retail, and bookstores,
is now opening smaller convenience size stores.

What this says about you and me is: ‘We value our time, just as much,
if not more so, as we do our money.’ Supply vs demand. Demand is
saying, we want more time to spend in our lives and less time in big
stores. Supply is answering via Walmart Express among many others.

The Big Box Stores for all of their wonder, put the places that we used
to run in and run out of, out of business. It wasn’t a bad thing, it was
just a ‘thing’. For shoppers, it became in many smaller towns, ‘the only
place to get anything was at Walmart.’

In addition to small retailers who suffered the big box brands coming
to town, and the Walmart vs Target competition, independent
booksellers were also feeling the pinch. Big Box Booksellers such as
Books-A-Million, and Barnes and Noble, took their toll on the local
bookstores. They too, began disappearing. Part of them leaving our
town streets, also was due to Amazon and other online book sellers,
causing booksellers to adapt and change or die. Many disappeared.
But that too, is changing.

I’m a writer-publisher, who also consults on personal and business
development. I spend a lot of enjoyable time on line. And some days, I
just want to go somewhere, that I can GO IN and enjoy the experience.
For me, that’s bookstores. Many of us spend loads of time online,
either for livelihood or play.

I love to just run into bookstores. I love to run into people who read
books and visit with them over why they read, what they read. I don’t
want to join a group or bookclub. I simply want to have a nice
intelligent conversation with a face. A face which lights up at
discussion over ‘reading’.

I love the smaller bookstores that don’t try and sell me a membership
when I go up to the counter to pay. That’s a Big Box mentality, trying
to keep us coming back out of fear that we won’t. But I won’t come
back, if each time, some poor sales person has to meet a quota and try
and guilt me into buying a membership card. And if they don’t make
their quota, then they may lose their job. What’s fun about that for
anyone? And is that good business? Is that good customer service?

Independent Bookstores as in other business is beginning to boom
again. We once again will have our favorite places to go and mingle
and spend our money on things we love doing and being.

Business is Booming again on small town main street, and once again
we just might have to be thankful to Sam Walton for breaking the (big)
box down for us, making way for entrepreneurship at a new level.

It’s exciting to be both in and part of the moment where once again,
Business is Booming!
Susan James

Susan James (Author-Publisher)
Susan James writes, publishes and specializes in themes
emphasizing personal development and higher manifesting methods.

Among the many published forms of James authored works are books,
print and digital formats, essays/articles, electronic newsletters,
distance learning courses and consulting. Susan writes on expanded
views of Personal Development, Business and The Livelihood of
Writing. Author of The Award Winning ‘Manifesting 101 & Beyond,’
‘Manifesting 102 & Beyond,’ ‘Manifesting Methods for Would Be
Millionaires,’ ‘Manifest Warp Speed,’ ‘17 Seconds to Weight Loss,’
and the novel, ‘The Millionaire Maverick.’ and The Done Deal.
Susan James Primary Site http://www.susanjames.org
High5 at Vast5 Blog http://highfive.vastfive.com
Susan James Bookstore http://www.susanjamesbookstore.com
Vast Five Publishing http://www.vastfive.com