Shopping for community: the transformation of the bookstore into a vital community institution

This article examines the symbolic power of the concept of community in American culture by analyzing its use as a marketing device within the retail book trade. Drawing on data gathered from interviews with book industry members and bookstore customers, and from the book industry trade literature, the article explores how the appeal to community has arisen within the context of competition between independent and chain booksellers. It discusses the limitations of positing a for-profit business as a centre of community life, but also argues that retail businesses do have consequences for a locale's economic and cultural life.