Poor variety of reading materials on dead trees limited to the shop’s selection plus high cost make bookstores going the way of record store.
Borders is leaving and there aren’t many bookstores selling new titles on the Monterey Peninsula, but the survivors aren’t leaving.
Among the surviving purveyors of books is The Works on Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove. “We’re still here,” said Robert Marcum, who owns and operates the store with his wife, Leela.
Marcum said business isn’t as good as it was when he opened six years ago. He attributes that decline mostly to the recession. He won’t say business is great.
“It’s still OK,” he said.
The Marcums bought the 2,400 square-foot store, then called Bookworks, reduced the space for books to about 1,200 square feet and expanded the tea-coffeehouse portion. It’s also part gallery.
Marcum also took the very word “Book” out of the shops name. New titles can be found at Costco with a less biased selection.
