EXPRESS READING ARE BOOKS DYING?

EXPRESS READING

ARE BOOKS DYING?

In theory, the multimedia age should be killing off bookshops.

Who still has time to read books, what with surfing the Internet,

viewing scores of new digital television channels, and putting

in ever-longer hours at work? And presumably those few people

who do still read books will be buying them on the Internet.

After all, Amazon, a bookseller, is the most cited example of

a successful online retailer. So much for the theory. What

about the practice? This week the largest bookshop in Britain

opened up in the old Simpson's of Piccadilly in London. With

265,000 titles and 1.5 million books, the new branch of Waterstone's

stretches over seven floors. A department store, which once

sold everything from sushi to plus-fours, is now devoted entirely

to one product - books. The new Waterstone's is almost next

door to Hatchards, a mere five-storey bookshop, with a

well-established clientele, and two smaller bookshops. It is

also less than a mile from Borders, another huge bookstore in Oxford Street.