Lio by Mark Tatulli for July 10, 2016

Looks like the store with the flock of customers is a thrift store.

I have never seen any comic go this literal, and that’s saying something. I wonder what kind of… oh never mind!

Regarding the stuff in the CrapShop display windows… the ubiquitous “cat” is there. T-shirts with iconic-even-if-defunct arcade game characters. Stacking cups… or are they novelty shot glasses? And I assume the (beer?) mug features a logo to display the user’s brand loyalty or some equally vapid sentiment… as perhaps those other drinking vessels do. But the caps? I immediately assumed that they are those are the ones hawked by you-know-who. Those are perfect emblems of bumpersticker level sloganeering passing for patriotic political sensibility. Crap is too mild a word. A sad fact about America’s last two brick and mortar book store chains is that both now feature large crap departments full of items almost as stupid as those portrayed here. Ironically, I hope the crap sells well enough to keep those stores solvent. Sure, online purchases of books are a better deal in most cases. But there are some valuable aspects of the neighborhood store that are worth preserving… such as their browsability. Of course, many people come to the stores and browse… but having found something they like, order it online. It’s the bookstore-as-showroom. But what happens when the showrooms go out of business?

So very sad. My town has no bookstore, but the FOUR “Dollar” stores continue to thrive.

This is so true. In the city where I was born, three bookstores have gone out of business the latest decade. And in the city where I live now, another one kicked the bucket.

Here in the Twin Cities, small independent bookstores are back on the healthy list. The only one that closed this year was because the owner was plain tired.

Libraries, people. My county public library is a great place.

American Exceptionalism!

thank you Mark!!!

Crap stores are ok, but Poopie stores are better

Great shades of Kliban! great strip

There are 300 million Americans and a best seller is what? 1 or 2 million sold. Friend of mine is proud that he never read a book.

My sister mentioned one day that all the books I had given her kids and grandkids over the years kids were never read. How sad that their lives will never ever come close to reaching their potential.

Even worse, those people going to the Crap place probably pawned their books so they could buy crap!

Hhhmmmmm?

So sad …. wait, is that SHINY crap? Well, no wonder.

Tatulli left out one thing from this otherwise spot-on strip: he should have had all of the patrons of Crap staring at their cellphones.

I think the point missed here, is the Crap store represents stores like Spencer’s Gifts. Shallow, meaningless crap.

I posted this previously, but it applies here…

Barnes & Noble Closing

A recent letter from (community) resident, (name withheld) was well written and made a strong case for retaining this important store in the community. She pointed out “many people regularly go there to study, write, or work” and “this is one place you can come to relax. Parents bring their children here for story time. Teens study together. Friends catch up over a cup of coffee.”

All of these are valid concerns; unfortunately, they do not touch on the real reason this store, and others like it are closing. Studying, writing, working, relaxing, etc. do not pay the bills. This is a bookstore, and the sale of books, magazines, and other related items pays the rent, the taxes, the salaries, and a myriad of other expenses that go into maintaining this business, or any business for that matter.

If folks really want to keep this store alive and thriving, they need to buy the products they sell. If they go to the internet and buy their printed materials, it does little if anything to help a local business survive! If it is a small business, think before you drive to the giant “box store” to save 25 cents on a 10 dollar purchase! I spent most of my adult life in a retail small business, and did everything I could to be competitive; but it wasn’t easy. You do need to keep your customers spending their money at your place of business instead of going elsewhere. In no way am I suggesting (name withheld) does not support this business, and I certainly hope she and her friends do. We just need more like her to do the same.

Was so disappointed the last time I was in San Francisco and discovered that my favorite used book store was gone.

Next to the little suburb in which I live is an iconic midwestern Big City. It used to have a terrific downtown bookstore (which later on, perhaps mistakenly, expanded into a small local chain) that was near the Big Art Museum. I could go Downtown, combine visits to both, and return home at end of the day, new books in hand (more precisely, in shopping bag), happy and satisfied. But now the bookstore is but a sadly-lamented memory, and the Big Art Museum costs a lot just to get in, never mind the additional cost of Big-time Exhibits (unless one is a member, which I now am).O tempora, O mores!

Yeah, pretty much. You have a bingo, Mr. Tatulli

I’m a little surprised the newspapers allowed this.

Barnes and Noble and Half Price Books are really the only two still around in my city. Borders, Books A MIllion and others are gone.

Great strip! Somewhat missing is that most of the folks on that line should be online, staring at their phones.

this one kind ov reminds me ov Winston Rowntree’s work.