MOLI VIEW™

Big Box Retailers are also known as Category Killers, and for good reason. The proliferation of Home Depot and Lowe's has driven the neighborhood hardware store nearly to extinction. Sporting goods, toys, housewares, bedding — you name it; giant super-stores replaced neighborhood shops in malls and shopping centers all over the country. Smaller, locally owned retailers still exist, but in some categories, they are nearly nonexistent. Still, a few have managed to not only hang on, they've managed to carve out a niche by doing what the Big Box stores can't: provide more personalized service or a specialized or unique line of products, or interact with the community in an intimate way.

In many communities, few independent booksellers remain in the wake of Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Books A-Million. In fact, there are so few independent booksellers, each time one of these venerable institutions bites the dust, Publisher's Weekly, the book industry trade publication, notes its passing.

Yet some independent stores remain open, and a handful even thrive. In Coral Gables, near Miami, Books & Books, a diverse bookstore, is a mandatory stop for authors on tour in the Southeast. Its founder, Mitchell Kaplan, 52, is hailed as a visionary for bucking the trend by creating a successful bookselling environment that reflects the diversity of the community. He recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its opening with an all-star gathering of more than 60 authors at a dinner to benefit the local library.

"I never planned to become a merchant prince," joked Kaplan in a recent interview. "I'm not even sure I would even be a merchant at all if I weren't a bookseller. But having a place that is part of the community was always something I wanted to do. Creating something that people love and that brings them together means a lot to me. And to do so with books is even better."

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