Thursday, November 11, 2010
Breaking News The Last Page Turns: Nashville Legend Davis-Kidd Booksellers to Close
Posted by Jim Ridley on Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 4:29 PM
It's like they canceled Christmas and threw away the world's last cheeseburger. From E. Thomas Wood at NashvillePost.com:
After serving Nashville for thirty years, Davis-Kidd Booksellers is closing its doors.Cincinnati-based Joseph-Beth Group, which purchased the business from founders Karen Davis and Thelma Kidd in 1997, today announced the closure of the store, located in the Mall at Green Hills, as it filed a Chapter 11 reorganization petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court at Lexington, Ky.
"Davis-Kidd has been an institution in Nashville. It breaks my heart to have to close this store," said
Neil Van Uum, owner of The Joseph-Beth Group, in a prepared statement.The announcement said inventory liquidation sales will begin in mid-November, continuing until the store closes in December.
Davis-Kidd is where I spent Friday nights as a teenager. Its symbolic loss to the city that hosts the Southern Festival of Books — "the Athens of the South" — is devastating. Goodbye, author signings and Nashville visits. Hello ... Amazon? Or is this the prime moment for a Grimey's of literature to step in and become Nashville's Square Books?
Comments (34)
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It feels like a death, and we're treating it the same way we do major obits at NashPo -- issuing a call for those who cared about the dearly departed to share their thoughts and memories for a follow-up story to be published tomorrow. Please share your comments here or send to tom.wood@nashvillepost.com.
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As a Memphian who is delighted that OUR Davis-Kidd is surviving, especially on the heels of the announcement that our Poplar Plaza Bookstar is closing, I send my condolences your way.
Amazon and Powell's have killed most bricks & mortar bookstores; our Davis-Kidd will be the only bookstore NOT primarily focused on used books inside the 240 Loop after January.
This is quite sad.
Mourning the loss of Davis-Kidd is like complaining because you can watch baseball on TV in HD. Buy yourself a Kindle. Life goes on.
I'll miss taking my kid to readings in the children's book/play area. Great way to kill a rainy Saturday. Plus, where else could you find the Utne Reader and Entertainment Weekly?
Jeff, I own and use daily an e-book reader. I love my Nook, but it ain't the same.
Sure, life goes on, but why can't there be room enough in this world for both Kindles and Nooks, and Davis-Kidd?
A few years ago, on a publicity tour for his novel Insomnia, Stephen King did a one-night stopover at the War Memorial Auditorium. In his brief, but memorable remarks, Mr. King praised bookstore whose stock is "shallow but wide" rather than "deep and narrow." You know what he meant - most stores now have 5000 copies of the twenty books, rather than 20 copies of the 5000 different books. Davis Kidd was an example of the shallow but wide stocking philosophy, and King singled them out for praise on that night.
Yes, life will go on. But it won't be as much fun.
Davis-Kidd is a Nashville institution and will be fondly missed. I take my son there weekly for playtime, and have so enjoyed the store. And no I will never get a Kindle.
Davis Kidd was usually my only reason for going into green hills. we used to beg my mom to go in there and just let us look around. im going to miss the little nooks and crannies that dont exist in major chains like borders and barnes and noble.
this is a step in the wrong direction for Nashville's cultural scene
Davis-Kidd should never have gone corporate or moved to the Green Hills Mall.
The original owners, Karen and Thelma, knew how to run a business. They would never have accumulated debt- the economy notwithstanding- whether it be the "nearly $3.55 million" owed Ingram, the $74,500 it owes the Mall or lesser amounts owed to other creditors.
This is the latest "chapter" in the beginning of the end of bookstores in general, and Nashville in particular, that, for me, began with the closing of Bookstar. While there was much opposition to that bookstore being built in the former Belle Meade Theater building (on the part of those native Nashvillians who obviously didn't go to the movies on a regular basis), the store seemed to thrive until devoted employees (including such friends to the SCENE as Tommy Womack) were among the last to know that Bookstar had lost its lease.
The crime of all of this is that it has been several years since Bookstar shut its doors, yet to this day the building remains vacant! Greed is- not so good!!!
There are not too many bookstores that could claim to be a friend to both authors and Nashville's music industry. And now that the Southern Festival of Books has apparently lost a sponsor, those of us who are published authors, as well as book-buyers, wonder where to turn for the bricks and mortar alternative to letting our fingers do the typing.
Borders is hardly a thriving chain. Its West End location could not be be less convenient to those with no interest in fighting for a parking space.
Waldenbooks left White Bridge Road years ago...
Looks like I may have to leave Davidson County to do my next bookstore signing...
We'll miss you Davis-Kidd!
Stacy Harris
The announcement of the closing was met with great sadness at my house. Davis Kidd was the whole reason for my mom and I to travel into Green Hills. During mom's book club meeting I would happily spend my time curled up in a chair reading. This store helped define my childhood. Davis Kidd will be sorely missed here in Nashville.
We will miss it so much -- the food, the books, the comfy chairs, the huge magazine selection. I'm guessing it was the rent, like everything else in Green Hills.
For those who own ereaders and ask "can't we do both?" The answer is an emphatic no. Dressers put too much control into the hands of technology corporations whose interest lie in the absolute control of the distribution of content. They don't pay local taxes, employ anyone but elite technicians and low end factory workers, (ie sweatshop workers), and they force media creators to bend to their will or face an inability to reach the market. This embrace of technology is a total surrendering of freedom. There will come a time when only authors approved by apple and amazon get published. They may not be solely responsible for the disastrous economic woes of this company, but they are doing irrepricable damage to American intellectualism and creative freedom.
There are such things as bookstore co-ops if enough people want to step into the breach!
What we're going to need, it seems pretty clear to me, are more regular events like the Brick reading series at Portland Brew East, and more sites for regular author events...Coffee houses are reasonable places, but not the only possible places, to have them--set-ups organized and backed enough that writers, publishers and readers will know they are there, as regular, known and publicized places for readings and signings..
I'll always be glad that I had an opportunity to have a book signing talk at Davis -Kidd (if not a massively well-attended one!).. and, like everybody else, I have to look towards some viable alternative in the future.
As a college student, I loved going to Davis-Kidd at its original location. And the one after that. And as I got older I especially loved the one after that. They were all wonderful, welcoming spaces. The current and final location had none of the charm and warmth of the others. Even if you factor out the miserable Green Hills traffic and ineptly designed parking lot, the space itself was oppressive and depressing. I will always believe that the decision to move into that miserable space was the final nail in Davis-Kidd's coffin.
We went there last night. Downstairs there was an author reading from his book, about 25 people lined up for signings. Kids were playing in the children's section. Folks were eating in the restaurant. Tons of people milling around the stacks. Seriously, for a Thursday night the place was lively. Last week I went with a friend and her 2-year-old to their toddler's music class in that downstairs room off of Bronte Bistro. I've been to other Joseph-Beth bookstores, DK is different. It's not just some sterile mall bookstore, it is part of the Nashville community in a way that your typical bookstore is not. If THIS is the image of a failing bookstore than we are really screwed, people. Anyone wanting to ask Joseph Beth to reconsider should contact Chad Showalter, 513-412-5700 X 1116 or cshowalter@josephbeth.com.
Jeff: You've missed the point. A Kindle is a passive experience. A bookstore is a relationship. It's a meeting place. It's community. The point is not that people don't have enough reading material, the point is that people no longer have a place to congregate and interact with one another around the written word and creative arts. I've had writer's group meetings there. Book club meetings. We used to go to the songwriters' nights. It's just another step towards our isolation. Save Davis Kidd: Save The World.
Screw Kindle. I'll never own one. With a book in a store you can touch the merchandise, browse a few pages, read the summation and comments on the back cover. I've taken chances on a lot of books that way in the store, and almost always been rewarded.
So many great things are now lost to us by this closing. I am heartbroken and I hope this shouts out to Nashvillians PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MERCHANTS! Too late for Davis Kidd though and what a shame. THANK YOU and I AM SORRY goes out to MS.DAVIS and MS. KIDD!
I found Mr. King's 'wide but shallow' assertion re: D-K to be untrue. The half dozen times I went there my trips always ended with: "no, but we can order it for you".
If I want to order a book, I'll go to Amazon and have it delivered directly to my home.
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Other Scott I feel exactly the same way. Moving the store to the Mall was the beginning of the end. I love love love bookstores. I loathe loathe loathe malls. And then there was all the non-book crap that took up half the floor space downstairs. I have sorely missed the Grace's Plaza store since it moved. Going to the Mall location was something I did only under duress. I think there is a niche for a small independent book store, as long as it stays small and dedicated primarily to books, and not flowery tote bags, bird feeders, candles and hand lotion.
Lots of folks are coming into Grimey's lamenting the closing of D/K and hoping we're hanging in there. We are. And so would Davis/Kidd most likely if they were still a locally-owned independent bookstore. Once it was sold to a corporate entity it became a different animal. The corporate owners aren't really in the bookstore business. They're in the management of small businesses business. If closing a store makes the balance sheets look more favorable, then closing a store is what needs to be done. If Grimey's had a corporate overlord, I'm sure they would have closed us after seeing our cash flow crises and juggling of payments to creditors and vendors. But we are passionate about being a great record store so we make it work.
I grew up going to Davis/Kidd in its original location and loved the Grace's Plaza location. It was my bookstore. Once it moved into the mall I think I went there maybe 3 times since. That was the fatal blow. It's a good time to be small and agile.
EFF THE GUY THAT SAID 'BUY A KINDLE'. I have worked at Davis-Kidd for the last 3 years. You have no idea what a loss this is for my co-workers and this community. You can't take your children to storytime on Amazon and there will no longer be a local bookstore to bring great authors to our city.
My co-workers and I feel like our family is being torn apart. Maybe it's insensitive people like you and our owner who have brought about our demise.
I understand the book publishing industry and I know where publishers and bookstores are headed. I've known for a while, but have failed to recognize how soon everything was coming to a devastating close. I am afraid of change, as most generations are, but that fear I can get over. What I cannot get over is losing Davis Kidd. This is not a change- it's the end to a part of my childhood, a part of my my escape, a part of my soul.
When some people get stressed, they go running or pig out on Oreos or drink a bottle of wine or vent for hours to their friends. I go to Davis Kidd. Just for the thirty minutes I'm there, the reality which makes me so overwhelmed sometimes is for a moment put on hold and I'm able to enter a different world. When I walk into Davis Kidd, my heart flutters, very much like one would react to being embraced by a lover. It is a rare find to enter such a peaceful, quiet, relaxing environment and still feel the hum of adventure, passion, and mystery lurking in every nook and cranny. That hum is the whisper of the books, waiting for us to pick them up and share their stories with our hearts. I rarely go to Davis Kidd with a book in mind, but rather spend my minutes roaming the tables and shelves, my fingertips grazing covers and first pages. I sort through book after book until I've found the one that had whispered the loudest. I then buy the book and head home, anticipating the moment I get to jump into bed and dive deep into the words and life of someone else. Can a Kindle give me that?
I went on a date once. We ended the date by spending two hours in Davis Kidd, pointing out all of the books of our childhood, like Stellaluna, books we read just for fun, like The City of Thieves, our favorite books, like The Lords of Discipline and Atlas Shrugged, and required school books we had come to appreciate, like The Odyssey. Sometimes the author name or the title was lost to our memory so we spent ages combing the shelves until the long-lost cover jumped out at us and its title was once again fresh in our minds. For those two hours, we debated everything and anything to do with specific books or the industry as a whole, like how Twilight was a detrimental blow to the world of literature, but Harry Potter was a masterpiece and how authors like John Grisham need to start writing real literature instead of writing with the same, old routine. It was one date, but it was a date I'll never forget because it was a date I won't ever be able to have again. Can a Kindle give me that?
Let's be honest: whether it's a paper book or a Kindle, I can still curl up in my bed and read an incredible story that might forever change my life. That is the important aspect of books, not the way they are made or handled. But that's very much like telling a football player he can still play the game, but it will now be played inside and no fans are allowed into the gymnasium while the game is being played. That would take a lot out of the experience, wouldn't it? Regardless, the true players would continue to play the game because they love it too much to abandon it, but there's no doubt their passion and excitement might be forever dented.
I'm 22 and have lived in Nashville for my entire life. Davis Kidd is one of the few retail stores worth fighting for. Has the knot already been tied and if not, what would it take to keep the Nashville Davis Kidd afloat? And if we could keep the ball rolling, would it be nothing more than prolonging its death? Nashville is a passionate group of people. Don't underestimate us.
-Kaitlin
I buy my share of Kindle books.
If I really enjoy them, I'll even buy a hard copy for the bookshelf. But the bottom line is that if I leave the Kindle at home, my travel loadout leaves me space for one paperback. I'd rather have the Kindle library at hand.
As for D-K, Kay is spot on. Malls eat your soul, and bookstores should try selling books for a change.
Some great comments - it's heartbreaking to see beloved bookstores closing all across America and over the sea. And it is shocking that the multi-faceted D-K is closing: but I understand their overhead and know that book sale profit does not cover it AND the world is changing - has changed - but I'm one (local bookstore) who is still holding on as long as I can. We retailers try and find the gift-y things that have a higher profit is the than books just to keep selling the books. Take a drive out to Ashland City to visit a small but locally owned bookshop - Stone Bridge Books, Gifts & Music www.anewthing.biz
Sad to see you go, Davis-Kidd. I've attended many author signings there...and will miss them greatly. Requiescat in pace.
When I heard that Davis Kidd was closing I realized that I don't have a capitalist's heart. It saddened me to know that this fixture of the community was going away. I am the owner of a small children's bookstore in East Nashville called Fairytales. I was fortunate to meet Karen Davis' daughter a couple years ago during my first weeks of business. She commented then on how nice is was to grow up in a bookstore. I want to give thanks to all of my neighbors who have resisted the temptation of ordering their books from Amazon so that we could stay in business this year. The economy, the floods, and the heat of this year were definitely a strain but their loyalty kept us open. We have always strived to carry on the spirit that Davis Kidd started out with as an independent. We offer daily storytimes, book signings, a large play area, and a room for parents. We are proud to be an independent bookstore here in Nashville and you are always welcome at Fairytales.
Tonight I went to Green Hills to say a sad farewell to my favorite bookstore. I feel as though I have attended a funeral. Seeing empty shelves as I walked in was hard enough, but when I walked into the children's department an empty rug and a shell of hollow silence greeted me. I headed to a remote corner to wipe the tears.
The gentleman who checked me out spoke of his own sadness, and said the last two weeks had been one long funeral.
As a local author, I had a book signing at Davis Kidd.
As a teacher, I sent my students to Davis-Kidd to browse and hopefully become excited about reading.
As a grandmother, I sat in the big rockers and watched children running and tripping over each other, giggling, chatting, and reading books on the platform steps with mommies and daddies. I was hoping that something would happen to keep this place open, but reality has set in. Good-bye dear friend. And thanks to all who made it the place it was for this community.
And by the way...I bought a Nook two weeks ago. The new color Nook. Last night I returned it. Changing over is going to be hard for me. A life without bookstores like Davis-Kidd seems cold and sterile. I just don't to think about it.
1) If a Kindle is for you, fine. I so much prefer holding a book, leafing back through, etc.
2) Even if a Kindle satisfies you, not having a bookstore to go into sucks. No way to hunt down the employee who recommended the last book to you and see what other authors he may turn you on to. No more face-to-face relationship. Blogs don't count.
3) When I was in the Grace's location and told about the mall move, my face fell a bit. I love bookstores. I thoroughly avoid malls. Have been there several times since, to go to DK, as it's easier to park there than at Borders, and it was local (this is the first I've heard that they'd been bought).
4) I've never ordered anything from Amazon, though they're a good source of reviews. Perhaps it's time. Bookman/Bookwoman though for most of my needs.
5) In the old days it was Mills Bookstore. There, they remembered my name, even if it'd been a while.
Having grown up in Nashville (in ancient times, when there were several smaller bookstores such as Mills in Belle Meade), I've enjoyed visiting and taking my family to D-K over the decades, and I'm sorry it will close. I was, though, delighted during a visit last week to discover the McKay used book store on Charlotte near White Bridge, with a large (and diverse) crowd and a terrific book selection. Because used book sellers on-line tend to charge larger shipping fees, there's a real potential market for such a brick and mortar place. It's definitely not D-K or Green Hills, but maybe some enterprising Nashvillians could work with them for book events, etc.
Rhino Booksellers hopes the book lovers will come visit our two neighborhood locations.
We have worked with Davis Kidd for years helping customers find their favorite books.
It's sad to live in a town without a great new bookstore or a train station. Do we really need a plethora or convention centers ?
I worked at the previous location for a year, right after it opened in 1987. (The place was flooded by a faulty sprinkler the same week.) I had just moved to Nashville, and was not familiar with the original location. I really enjoyed the "family" of employees - it was a great year. Here in San Antonio, we lost our Bookstop chain, when Barnes & Noble gobbled it up ten years ago.
