A bit of sad news from Appleton, that really doesn't matter in the grand scheme, unless you are in or from there. But, this is a story that has happened many times before in every city in America, so most everyone can relate at least a little. Conkey's Bookstore, which has been open in downtown Appleton for 113 years, is about to close. It was beat out by Barnes & Noble....this is quantifiable in this case, as B&N offered a lower-priced contract to be the bookstore for students at Fox Valley Technical College. This represented half of Conkey's business. It's hard to make up a drop like that.
I remember going into Conkey's as a kid and buying Choose Your Own Adventure books. Any child of the 80s knows those books. Other times, there were books I wanted to buy that I couldn't afford. But, there were always a lot of interesting books there, many of which were hard to find elsewhere in Appleton. The last book I bought from there was a book on new urbanism by former Milwaukee mayor John Norquist. This was in 1998, not long before I moved back to Minneapolis. Can't say I agreed with everything in that book, but books like that are why I browsed Conkey's somewhat regularly.
I am not generally one to lament the loss of local businesses to national chains. In our economic world, if someone can sell the same product at a better price, they are going to get business. I know that lamenting local stores closing is a cause celebre for some people, specifically when it comes to Wal-Mart. I am not with these people, and this is not why I am posting about this. But, that doesn't mean losing an institution (and Conkey's was an institution) doesn't sting at least a little. Conkey's was a great bookstore for a city like Appleton, and Appleton is a little less cool for losing Conkey's. I am not aware of another quality independent bookstore in Appleton. Perhaps I have one more book purchase in me over on 226 E College Ave.
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4 comments:
I saw this too... and felt a little sad about it myself. Conkey's is one of those places I thought was super cool when I was a kid... sigh.
When I was writing this, I was reminded of one of my other favorite places in that same area...Hobby World. I loved that store too as a kid.
It's funny, we were amongst the last kids to know what it was like to go downtown to shop. The more I think about it, the more I am amazed at what used to be in downtown Appleton.
That is too bad, Mike. Conkey's always had good books and a different sensibility than the chains do. Because they had the Lawrence textbooks too, I got a sneak preview of what was to come when I was growing up. And of course that means that the only bastion of erudition left on College Avenue is Jerry's Pipe Shop. I hope.
We all know what keeps Jerry's in business. Until that part of the city is rezoned, then Jerry's should remain open.
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