Indie bookstores see more interest with Borders gone

People don't know what they want until you show it to them.

The late Steve Jobs said that in 1998 about his design process. Thirteen years later, Las Vegas business owner Wes Miller said it in defense of bookstores.

Miller owns Get Booked, a gay and lesbian specialty store at 4640 S. Paradise Road. Three years ago, he greatly reduced his book inventory as sales declined.

He still sells books, but his stock is largely limited to new editions by local gay authors and discounted editions of older tomes. The rest of his store is filled with gift items such as jewelry, greeting cards and T-shirts.

"We're a gay pride shop," Miller said. "I've seen the demand for books die off."

But since the closure of the Borders chain, he's been overrun by readers looking for a new source of books.

"My phone will not stop ringing," Miller said. "To be honest with you, I am tired of it."

Miller is being swamped not because of new interest in gay and lesbian literature, but because his store gets top billing in a Google search for Las Vegas bookstores.

Now, Miller is realizing the book business might not be so dead, and the Internet could help save it.

"This whole idea of the economy falling completely under the Internet is not going to work," Miller said, reflecting on his own habit of visiting other bookstores and the local library to browse for books. At times, he has no idea what book he's going to want until he sees it.

"I never would have thought to look at those books," he said of a recent expedition to Barnes & Noble.

Linda Piediscalzi agrees with Miller.

As owner of Dead Poet Books, 937 S. Rainbow Blvd., she hears customers pondering where they can go to find new releases in the wake of the Borders' closure. Piediscalzi primarily deals in used books, although she does get the occasional new release.

"We all seem to like to feel the books and smell the books," she said. "You don't get that same fulfillment online as walking into a bookstore."

Piediscalzi doesn't believe books alone can a sustain a store. She finds herself dreaming up new ways to draw in customers -- poetry readings, group meetings and chess games have found their way in to Dead Poet Books. And she wants to add more events. She just isn't sure what.

"I'm open for ideas," she said.

Michael Clark, who has owned a used-book store since 1995, recently rebranded his shop to prepare for the future. Michael's Used Books, at 3430 E. Tropicana Ave., became On the Road Books & Vinyl.

Clark said that while he's in the industry, he never had faith that books alone could carry his store.

"We're not the Bay area or something," he said.

Clark stocks DVDs, CDs and vinyl records in an effort to reach out to audiences looking for specific classic rock, classical or jazz music. His business has seen no trickle-down from Borders' closure.

"I thought it would affect us, but it hasn't," Clark said. "Kindles, though, have hurt us more than I thought."

Clark said the Internet in general has dented his business more than he anticipated. Quick searches on Wikipedia or Google have replaced the need to read complete biographies, and people looking for fiction can search, order and purchase online.

He firmly believes the days of used-book stores are numbered.

"It won't exist in another 10 years," Clark said. "There's a cultural ADD (attention deficit disorder) going on out there."

Piediscalzi, though, isn't ready to give up yet.

"We're surviving," she said. "I have hope."

More than anything, Piediscalzi doesn't want to see brick-and-mortar bookstores go by the wayside. And not just because it's her livelihood.

"We need places where people can exchange ideas, places where you can look into someone's eyes and see their face,'' she said. "Everybody needs that.''

Contact reporter Laura Emerson at lemerson@lvbusinesspress.com or 702-380-4588.