It seems that thriving indie bookstores have carved out a niche for themselves as a scene: Kramerbooks with the cafe, bar and late hours, and Politics and Prose with the daily readings and nice coffee-cafe with free wifi. Busboys & Poets have their niche selection integrated into their restaurants.

Olssons is still trying to be a general-service bookstore/music store to all people and that's a virtually impossible business to be in these days. They've tried cafes in a few stores but they've always been bland, charged for wifi and sporadically staffed. They tried DVD rentals, but it was a pain to use the service since they didn't have a return slot, and with Netflix and OD that business is becoming obsolete.

Maybe they could try to remake their remaining stores as food/bar/book destinations? Ditch most of the dying music section and keep a carefully curated small stock of new stuff and vinyl? Try to specialize in small offbeat presses, oddball titles and graphic novels like Atomic up in Baltimore? They just can't keep staying the same and hope to survive. I hope they make it somehow.

So it wasn't the big bad evil landlord after all?

Any bookstore that charges for WIFI deserves to go out of business.

Very sad news, indeed.

I appreciate their Dupont location because it isn't Kramerbooks: they actually have discount sales (ever seen a markdown at Kramer? I didn't think so), their staff knows about books and isn't dismissive to customer queries, and they are really great about special orders. And they're not the behemoth that is Books-A-Million around the corner.

So what are they to do? I agree that they need to work on having a better selection, overall, in the book end of things. Outside of fiction and politics, their selection is often woeful. But they do try to make things right. Their DVD rental is great for things like Criterion Collection and other films that are tougher to get via Netflix (and the lack of a return slot isn't a huge deal, as they are often fairly accommodating about slightly late returns). And their music selection was always decent, if not as cheap as the loss-leaders (e.g. Best Buy).

But they need a clear identity, for sure, and that has been lacking for years. I hope they can get their act together soon.

I and several other members of my family worked for Olssons for several years from the late 90's until I graduated college. This is sad, but not totally unexpected, Olssons and stores like it have been aggressively targeted by national chains for years now. Wherever you find a successful independent bookstore, you will at some point find a national chain move in a block away to tap the market the indie developed.

Also Olssons was a bit dysfunctional in its upper management and they expanded way to much in the late 1990's, but this was overall largely beyond their control.

There are still plenty of independent bookstores in the city but this is a big blow. I've had reports from store owners of people buying from Amazon and Borders but returning books to indie shops.

That hurts even more when the one thing indie shops can do to try to compete with the rock bottom online prices is provide good customer service.

Sad,

Olsson's wasn't my favorite indie bookstore in DC, but a few of it's locations are much more on my beaten path than any of the other options. I do hope they can figure out a real indentity and make it work, but unfortunately it seems unlikely.

On a more optimistic note:

I really hope Chapters finds a space for their Literary Arts Center soon because I love them and the project sounds amazing. For anyone who wasn't familiar with Chapters (formerly on 11th at E) see here(http://www.chaptersliterary.com/). They're currently in storage, but looking for a new space.

It's especially sad considering the string of DC-based stores that have gone out of business over the decades. I tried to get my books and magazines from Olsson's when possible but with the need for textbooks and discounts on book shipments I didn't buy there as often as before.

i can envision a day with no Olsson's, no Kramerbooks, no Politics & Prose, no Busboys & Poets.

Apart from P&P, that's my idea of heaven. Because we certainly need more overpriced and understocked hiptard hangouts where you can listen to morons read their hospital charts and call it "poetry."

If local indie stores go out of business, it will be because the City Council taxes them out of business. Small businesses are dying downtown because they can't afford the rent, taxes, and red tape. It's not the chains' fault they're the only ones who can afford to open shop downtown.

Pffft. Like people read anymore. Unless it's on The Daily Show or printed on sugar packets, I say eff that noise.