Friday, October 22, 2004
THE US AS A CULTURAL PRESENCE IN EUROPE
Lecturer: R. Kroes
Amsterdam Walking Tour: Jacqueline - Marc - Agustin
- The Americanization of Scheltema. We visited a couple of bookstores in Amsterdam: Athenaeum (Spui 14-16), Het Martyrium (Van Baerlestraat 170-172), and Scheltema (Koningsplein 20.)
We looked for physical, visible signs of "Americanization", which we defined as: (1) enormous availability of books on display; (2) availability of sitting space, so that customers can see, touch and feel the books; (3) a Café; (5) rest rooms for customers; (5) CDs and DVDs on sale; (6) Store opens on Sundays.
Our conclusion is very straightforward: while both Het Martyrium and Athenaeum have space constraints that act as a stumbling bloc to their "Americanization", Scheltema is fast becoming the Barnes & Noble (or Borders) of Amsterdam (*).
We interviewed a middle-manager at Scheltema, who gave us the following information:
. A decisive step was taken in 2000, when the bookshop bought and adjacent building in order to expand, and to house the (charming) "Petit Café Scheltema";
. Around May 2004, rooms on the upper floors were re-organized to increase the availability of books on display;
. In September 2004, overall "sitting space" was increased by a factor of 12: there are now at least 24 yellow couches. They are rather rough – you probably wouldn't have them in your living room. Clearly, these guys have learnt from the early Barnes & Noble mistake of having too lavish furniture in the display rooms. They would get too many self-styled "customers" who'd pick up a book on advanced chemistry or on sixteenth-century Japanese poetry, only to take a good nap in a well heated (or air-conditioned) room. You don't want that kind of "customer" in your store.
. The CD-DVD division is a money-loser.
________________
(*) Note that some are criticizing the "mega-bookstore" concept on the following grounds: (a) they act as predators against small-sized bookshops; (b) they are mere creations of greedy real-estate developers; (c) they destroy the architectural harmony of the downtwon area. (See Mark Nemmers: "Why Borders is bad for downtown", 1997.)
Lecturer: R. Kroes
Amsterdam Walking Tour: Jacqueline - Marc - Agustin
- The Americanization of Scheltema. We visited a couple of bookstores in Amsterdam: Athenaeum (Spui 14-16), Het Martyrium (Van Baerlestraat 170-172), and Scheltema (Koningsplein 20.)
We looked for physical, visible signs of "Americanization", which we defined as: (1) enormous availability of books on display; (2) availability of sitting space, so that customers can see, touch and feel the books; (3) a Café; (5) rest rooms for customers; (5) CDs and DVDs on sale; (6) Store opens on Sundays.
Our conclusion is very straightforward: while both Het Martyrium and Athenaeum have space constraints that act as a stumbling bloc to their "Americanization", Scheltema is fast becoming the Barnes & Noble (or Borders) of Amsterdam (*).
We interviewed a middle-manager at Scheltema, who gave us the following information:
. A decisive step was taken in 2000, when the bookshop bought and adjacent building in order to expand, and to house the (charming) "Petit Café Scheltema";
. Around May 2004, rooms on the upper floors were re-organized to increase the availability of books on display;
. In September 2004, overall "sitting space" was increased by a factor of 12: there are now at least 24 yellow couches. They are rather rough – you probably wouldn't have them in your living room. Clearly, these guys have learnt from the early Barnes & Noble mistake of having too lavish furniture in the display rooms. They would get too many self-styled "customers" who'd pick up a book on advanced chemistry or on sixteenth-century Japanese poetry, only to take a good nap in a well heated (or air-conditioned) room. You don't want that kind of "customer" in your store.
. The CD-DVD division is a money-loser.
________________
(*) Note that some are criticizing the "mega-bookstore" concept on the following grounds: (a) they act as predators against small-sized bookshops; (b) they are mere creations of greedy real-estate developers; (c) they destroy the architectural harmony of the downtwon area. (See Mark Nemmers: "Why Borders is bad for downtown", 1997.)
# posted by Agustin @ 11:11 AM 
