>Our next big change came in 2011, when we moved to all-digital publishing, because newsstand bookstores were dying (goodbye Borders), and the cost of printing became impossibly high.
Gah. That brings back bad memories. When I moved to this area in 2011, there were five Borders within a 20 mile radius of me. They all closed within six months of my moving here. B&N and Books-a-Million are pale imitations.
In recent years, across Europe I have seen large bookshops, even the flagship stores of once-serious chains, become largely empty. Where once densely packed shelves lined the walls and formed aisles, now there are half-empty shelves along the walls with just a handful of books scattered on them. The space in between is dedicated almost entirely to what I would call hipster accoutrements: vinyl records, Moleskine notebooks, fancy teapots, Kikkerland products, etc. Personally, I don’t get how these shops stay profitable. They seem to be renting a huge amount of space, presumably expensive, and not actually using most of it.
In any event, going back to the topic here, those bookshops have often done away with magazines entirely. Thus, Linux Journal couldn’t have sold their mag in bookstores even when some bookstores are still around.
Flagship stores don't really make money. They're there as advertising that hopefully pays for itself. Making money in retail is determined by the efficiency of distribution and supply chain.
I had the pleasure of buying technical books at the original Borders in Ann Arbor before the store became a chain. It was an amazing place. RIP Borders.
Gah. That brings back bad memories. When I moved to this area in 2011, there were five Borders within a 20 mile radius of me. They all closed within six months of my moving here. B&N and Books-a-Million are pale imitations.