Forget Amazon. The Best Gifts Are Closer Than You Think.
It's time to revive the tradition of puttering about in our favorite shops, looking for something that would make a loved one's eyes light up.
The supply-chain crisis has hit bookstores hard, too, and at a particularly devastating time: For many independent bookstores, holiday sales determine whether they will survive another year. So I do my shopping at Parnassus Books, where the people who work there have become my friends. Even if the book I have in mind for a particular friend or family member isn't available, a knowledgeable bookseller will help me find something even better. That's true at every bookstore I've ever been in. Bookstores are places where supply-chain problems can be easily compensated for.
There are excellent reasons to respond to the supply-chain crisis by buying nothing new at all this holiday season. You could pass along family treasures instead, plan a shared outing, shop at thrift stores, make a donation to a nonprofit dear to your beloved's heart. That plan would have the beneficial side effect of reducing waste at the same time, and I'm not talking about a modest amount of waste: The United States produces 5.8 million tons more waste in December than in any other month, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
But where we spend our money matters, too, and the current supply-chain disruptions are giving us a taste of what will happen if Amazon manages to drive all the local shops out of business and leaves us at the mercy of a logistics system that was fragile even before the pandemic. If we want these dear local places to survive, we have to spend money there, during the holidays more than ever.
I was in Parnassus last week to buy a copy of a new book by Ann Patchett. Not "These Precious Days," the book of essays she has coming out later this month, but a tiny book about the history of the store, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary on Nov. 15. "The Shop Dogs of Parnassus" tells the story of how Ms. Patchett and Karen Hayes, a former sales rep for Random House, founded the store in 2011.
By then all the independent bookstores in Nashville, not to mention the Borders chain, had gone out of business, killed by the online goliath. But Ms. Patchett and Ms. Hayes trusted Nashville to support a store that was just the right size — small and cozy, with comfortable chairs, lovingly chosen books and, perhaps most crucially, dogs. Dogs who offer their bellies for rubbing and who will patiently listen to a child read them a story and sometimes even jump through a hula hoop...
Margaret Renkl, nyt
It's time to revive the tradition of puttering about in our favorite shops, looking for something that would make a loved one's eyes light up.
The supply-chain crisis has hit bookstores hard, too, and at a particularly devastating time: For many independent bookstores, holiday sales determine whether they will survive another year. So I do my shopping at Parnassus Books, where the people who work there have become my friends. Even if the book I have in mind for a particular friend or family member isn't available, a knowledgeable bookseller will help me find something even better. That's true at every bookstore I've ever been in. Bookstores are places where supply-chain problems can be easily compensated for.
There are excellent reasons to respond to the supply-chain crisis by buying nothing new at all this holiday season. You could pass along family treasures instead, plan a shared outing, shop at thrift stores, make a donation to a nonprofit dear to your beloved's heart. That plan would have the beneficial side effect of reducing waste at the same time, and I'm not talking about a modest amount of waste: The United States produces 5.8 million tons more waste in December than in any other month, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
But where we spend our money matters, too, and the current supply-chain disruptions are giving us a taste of what will happen if Amazon manages to drive all the local shops out of business and leaves us at the mercy of a logistics system that was fragile even before the pandemic. If we want these dear local places to survive, we have to spend money there, during the holidays more than ever.
I was in Parnassus last week to buy a copy of a new book by Ann Patchett. Not "These Precious Days," the book of essays she has coming out later this month, but a tiny book about the history of the store, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary on Nov. 15. "The Shop Dogs of Parnassus" tells the story of how Ms. Patchett and Karen Hayes, a former sales rep for Random House, founded the store in 2011.
By then all the independent bookstores in Nashville, not to mention the Borders chain, had gone out of business, killed by the online goliath. But Ms. Patchett and Ms. Hayes trusted Nashville to support a store that was just the right size — small and cozy, with comfortable chairs, lovingly chosen books and, perhaps most crucially, dogs. Dogs who offer their bellies for rubbing and who will patiently listen to a child read them a story and sometimes even jump through a hula hoop...
Margaret Renkl, nyt
This place looks so awesome. I love to hear how you contribute and give back during problems like this!
ReplyDeleteIt is, as is its owner Ann Patchett (one of our best novelists). But you should have seen the old Davis-Kidd bookstore across the street, where I worked back in the day. It's a bank now. Desecration!
ReplyDeleteLove this post!
ReplyDelete