What books would you expect to see in a “good” bookstore?
What ones would you expect to see on display in a “bad” bookstore?
In a good bookstore, I expect to not be able to form any expectations as to what I’ll see. I’ll expect to be pleasantly surprised.
In a mediocre bookstore, I expect to see whatever the current top bestsellers are.
In a truly bad bookstore, I expect to be surprised again, but unpleasant surprises this time.
I’d like to see a wide assortment of good books in clearly marked areas in a good bookstore, of course! What else would I expect to see?
Now, a ‘bad’ bookstore - there was a used book emporium here a few years ago the size of a barn, and it was the kind of place you went to looking for those hidden treasures. I spent quite a bit of money, and even more time, looking through everything. Finally, though, it began to dawn on me that I had been in that store a dozen times in a few months and nothing ever changed. No new (used) books EVER came in. Not even magazines in the back-issue room. It was like visiting a museum, and I stopped going there. Very disappointing.
I agree – bad bookstores have no turnover in stock. The other things they have are an overabundance of stuff like Harlequins and other romance novels, text books, and very little in regard to non-fiction and lots of books in bad shape. If the place smells musty, that makes it much worse.
At a bad bookstore: The 1952 Nafsu Oil Company Employees’ Yearbook.
Checks stock, cries
I’ve never really thought about it. In general, the “good” bookstore has what I need, in stock, now. No ordering, no calling around. Depending on luck, the same store might be “good” one day and “bad” the next. Recently, I went to a used bookstore. They didn’t have used copies of Jaws, Exorcist, Congo, or I am Legend. However, I did get an old Calvin and Hobbes collection for $1. I went to Barnes and Nobles, and I got Jaws, Congo, I am Legend, and a few magazines. They had a copy of the Exorcist, but the cover was damaged so I didn’t buy it (it better be in Mint shape if I buy it new.) I spent $50.
I would say, on that day, both bookstores were “bad.” B&N was “better,” but it wasn’t “good” that day.
You own a bookstore?
See, when I go to a bookstore, I’m not usually looking for something specific-- At most, it’ll be something like “a present for my niece”, or the like (in which case “good” means an employee I can ask “What would you recommend for a nine-year-old girl who likes X, Y, and Z?”). My idea of a good bookstore experience is “Ooh, I remember that book from when I was a kid! I wonder if it’s held up well? Oh, and I’ve seen several things by this author, I should give this a try. Wow, I didn’t know that book had a sequel! And there are still copies in circulation of this?”.
Good bookstore is almost too broad to qualify- lots of variety and things you didn’t know you were interested in until you saw them. Bad bookstores have special sections for LaHaye/Jenkins and Dan Brown but not for Gay/Lesbian interest. (Yes, I’m looking at you Books-a-Million, square at ya in fact.)
A good used bookstore should also be made up of many rooms, with the odd narrow stairway or unexpected hallway, and just fun to explore.
Bonus points if it’s in an old house and has a weird old lady who sits in a corner reading and knows every book in the place. (There have been a couple of places exactly that way where I lived, but in one case the old lady moved to the midwest and in the other the weird old lady sold and the new owners ran it into the ground by raising the prices on all the hardbacks and adapting a new trade-in-policy written by a team of 1830s tax lawyers with OCD [“30% of cover price to be applied on 20% of the book being purchased with the exceptions of books published on an even numbered year north of the 32nd parallel or with an author whose name ends in a vowel in which case 40% of the book up to the value of its last prime factor…”.)
And a nice big cuddly dog who follows you around and puts his head in your lap while you read your selection.
And a gray cat asleep on a pile of books.
I think I’ve met that cat.
I don’t really own it, I run it, it is family owned. Run it into the ground lol.
Oh, I’ve been in a little shop in a strip mall (not a house, alas) run by an old lady. It’s been there for decades, mostly paperbacks, dated cookbooks, and kids books, but everything is super cheap. The interesting thing was, on a shelf above the doorway, there were several paperbacks. With blank covers. The most hair-raising pornography you can imagine! (I was curious and sneaked a look - yowza! - strong stuff for a 20 year old girl!) I should stop in sometime and see if those blank paperbacks are still there.
Barnes and Noble combines some aspects of a good bookstore and a bad bookstore. I really like how they have their table displays set up. They always have lots of interesting things displayed that I never would have heard of otherwise. I also really like it when a bookstore has a section with employee recommendations. A bad bookstore just has lots of bestseller-type books on display.
I love how local libraries have adopted the same kind of merchandising strategy. It gives the same joy of discovery.
The thing that I really dislike about B&N is that they don’t seem to put any effort into mainting a “collection.” I primarily look in the science fiction section, and it’s absolutely shocking what they don’t keep in stock. Yes, I know that their selection is based on what sells the best, but they should make at least some pretense to keeping the core classics in stock. It’s pretty off-putting to see shelves and shelves of Charlaine Harris books when I can’t find a copy of Dune. A good bookstore, like a good library, finds a balance between the hot-selling stuff and canonical works.
As far as used bookstores–there’s a phenomenal one in Chatham, NJ. They are incredibly selective and thoughtful about their inventory, which means that they have room for really good collections of the categories they do stock. Kind of hard to explain, but they only have “better” books. Literary fiction, not bestseller fiction, for example. Really good cookbooks, not random crap. Craft books from the '70s that have designs that people actually might be interested in in 2010. Stuff like that. They’re not cheap, but you don’t have to spend hours rooting through junk to find something worthwhile. If you bring books to sell, and you actually have some things they want, they pay reasonably well as compared to other used bookstores too. I suppose one of the reasons they’ve been able to stay in business is that their selectivity means that they can stay in a smaller space so they don’t kill themselves on rent.
And they have a permanent shelf outside where they put whatever rejects they end up with for cheap. If they’re closed, you stick the money under the door. 
Pratchett, O’Brien, McCullough, plenty of the great S.F. authors and of course best sellers.
That’s how it works for me. Sometimes I like to just browse around and when that’s the case, I’ll go to any bookstore.
But other times, I’m looking for a specific book. And when that’s the case, I’ll pick certain stores. If it’s out-of-print, I’ll look for it at Rick’s Recycled Books or R&N Books or Book Centre. I don’t go to Greenwood Books or Houghton Book Shop or Yankee Peddler - they’re all good book stores but I don’t rely on them to have a specific title. If it’s a new book, I go to Lift Bridge or maybe Talking Leaves. I don’t count on Medina Bookshop or Present Tense or Sundance Books or Burlingham Books to have a specific title in stock.