There's some P history here too. My dad bought his medical books from Harry back in the 60s. Before moving to Dallas, I lived in Shorewood and had a Schwartz within walking distance of my duplex. There was nothing better than browsing the aisles after a long week, lovingly selecting a book with the excitement of having a date that night with the adventure the book would reveal to me.
Clearly the economy downturn and the massive scale bookstores that offer thousands of selections at a decent discount will slowly and surely make independent bookstore closings an oft told tale. Perhaps I am truly saddened by dashed pipe dreams. My long time fairy tale dream has been to open my own bookstore. I always thought that if I were to inherit an empire like Schwartz, it would be a great deal. Schwartz gave me hope that in this modern day, the value of a locally owned bookstore would have a place on the urban landscape. But alas....
'Bookselling was and is for me a cultural and political expression, an expression of progressive change, of challenge to oppressive authority, of a search for a community of values which can act as an underpinning of a better world. The true profit in bookselling is the social profit; the bottom line, the measure of the impact of the bookshop on the community."
-A. David Schwartz (July 15, 1938 - June 7, 2004)
