34. The 'Todos tus libros' platform
My
eye has been caught in the last few days by an initiative started in Spain to
protect local bookshops. The idea is simple and can be extended to any other
industries. It aims to address the short term cash problem that independent
bookshops can have due to the fact that they are currently closed and therefore
can’t generate revenues, whilst still needing to pay most of their bills,
especially as government help is there theoretically in some cases, but can be
harder or more complex to access than would be ideal. ‘Todos tus libros’, which
means ‘All your books’ allows you to spend money now with your bookshop, which
you can then redeem for any books later, once they are back open. This is a
great idea. It seems obvious, like all great ideas. It could save many
retailers (and other companies) during these difficult times, if they have the
support of their communities. And consumers should really support it, unless we
want to come back to a World of large chains and internet shopping
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Comments
The problem I see here is that most communities already abandoned their local bookshops and rest of non-chain businesses long ago in favor of Amazon and other internet services, which are easier and faster but also impersonal. I really like the initiative, but I am also not very positive that it will make a real change in the situation because most people stopped supporting local businesses long before this crisis started...
Hope I am wrong, though! :-)
Like with most things, very difficult to do anything about it by yourself, critical mass is needed
But... we should imagine a future without all these small businesses and think whether we like it, before we are too unforgiving...
xx