Bookshop to close

I have just read with great sadness that the Sandwich Bookshop in Kent is closing after seven years, blaming a rise in internet bookselling, supermarket discounting and the popularity of e-readers. Louise Vance will be shutting the doors to her shop in July. She said: "Like so many independents before us, the odds have been stacked so far against us that it is now just too hard to compete on such an un-level playing field. Competing with the likes of Amazon and the supermarkets, who sell books as loss leaders, the internet in general and now the Kindle, which also only allows books to be purchased from Amazon, has been hard." She also said that business had fallen "dramatically" since March, pointing out this was around the same time as World Book Night.
Independent booksellers are always told that while some shops shut, the 'good' ones survive and even thrive. The Sandwich shop is a very good shop and its closure serves as a warning that even good shops will close in this climate and with such competition. July 4th is Independents' Day, a day to shop locally and support your independent shops - so I hope you will!