After 45 years, declining sales may cause Caveat Emptor to close its doors this August if the business is not sold.
Caveat Emptor, which is at 112 N. Walnut St., is a used book and CD store specializing in hard-to-find items, particularly biography and history books.
Owner Janis Starcs, 73, said two mail orders going out Monday were for an Estonian dictionary and a 20th-century Chinese autobiography.
“It’s becoming an expensive hobby,” said Starcs, who studied European history at IU. “I just can’t afford to keep on doing it.”
Starcs said the decline in sales has been ongoing, and it took him many years to figure out what was wrong.
“I thought we might have the wrong books, but that’s actually why people like us. We keep a lot of things on the shelves that most people can’t be bothered with,” Starcs said.
Starcs said he believes Caveat Emptor’s books may not be in fashion right now, but they have some inherent value and will always be of significance to those interested in learning.
Business has been affected by changes in downtown Bloomington, such as the addition of parking meters a few years ago, Starcs said.
People used to park downtown for free and spend hours wandering in the store.
However, due to the meters, local residents don’t shop downtown as often, he said.
The changes in the publishing industry have also led to a decline in business, Starcs said.
Websites such as Amazon allow customers to purchase books cheaply, and in some cases charge just a dollar for shipping, Starcs said.
Kindles, iPads and other electronic devices are also changing the brick-and-mortar book industry, Starcs said.
“Now, even more recently, we have electronic devices people download books onto,” Starcs said. “A lot of the classics are out of copyright so you can download them for free.”
Starcs said he believes few people are still interested in printed books and their advantages, such as the ability to easily flip back and forth and underline the text.
“It definitely is really kind of sad,” said Hannah Osborn, a Bloomington resident. “I know there’s been a huge shift in book buying. It went from small stores to big chains, but even the chains are dying now and it’s all online. Local businesses are suffering.”
Additionally, not as many people are interested in browsing and looking at books before they purchase, Starcs said.
But James Lee, a Bloomington resident, said he disagrees with this.
“Accessibility is important. I like being able to walk in and look at something before I buy it,” Lee said. “I guess I’ll be buying my books online now.”
Young people, particularly young professors and graduate students, are drawn to electronic reading devices, Starcs said.
These intellects are moving every few years and trying to get tenured and do not want to have a large book collection to move every time, so the electronic books offer a level of convenience, he said.
Starcs said he hopes a young person with fresh capital and ideas for the business will purchase Caveat Emptor.
His ideal situation is simply handing over the keys to the store with everything in it to the new owner, Starcs said.
“It makes me sad,” Starcs said. “Nothing lasts forever. I’m 73, so it might be time to retire.”
