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Index sat on the floor behind the cash register at Piece of Mind Books in
Edwardsville, toying with the bow that she had just claimed as hers.
The bow was previously attached to a gift-wrapped book for customer Brian
Konzen, of Granite City, before the less-than-1-year-old feline jumped on
the counter and snatched the bow as a toy.
"We have people that come in just to see that cat," Andi Allen, owner of
Piece of Mind Books, said with a laugh. "The cat is a draw, although we had
an old cat who died this summer who was even more well-known because she was just super affectionate."Index, who often spends time laying on a shelf in
the front windowsill of Piece of Mind Books, is one of the nuances of the
independent bookstore that likely would not be found in a chain bookstore.
Piece of Mind Books has been in Edwardsville since 1991, but it is one of
the last of a dying breed of independent bookstores in Madison County. The
Book Nook and Faith Talk Company, both independent bookstores in
Edwardsville, closed in that last few years. Main Street Books USA, in
Collinsville, also closed.
The trend exists for the larger part of Illinois. Eight independent
bookstores that opened in Illinois in 2006 or 2007 joined the American
Booksellers Association, but none of those stores are in the lower half of
the state.
Avin Mark Domnitz, chief executive officer for the ABA, a nonprofit
organization designed to promote independent booksellers, according to the
association's Web site, said that independents actually are doing "quite
well" on the national level.
Full Story: http://collinsvilleherald.stltoday.com/articles/2008/06/18/
news/sj2tn20080618-0611edw-independentbksto.ii1.txt
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The Wal-Mart Effect: Small Bookstores Fight to Survive
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Independent bookstores fight to keep afloat
By Blake Toppmeyer
Collinsville Herald,, June 18, 2008
Straight to the Source
