Melbourne, Australia-
On 2002, the best border in Melbourne is open across from Redding Street.
Well-known independent booksellers and retail experts predict that moldy old stores competing with shiny new chains will suffer.
On the contrary, Australians rejected the border of bankruptcy.
Starbucks has also suffered a fiasco in this country where coffee loyalty is king.
When it comes to Amazon, Amazon announced that it will open its warehouse --
Soon, in Australia, online sales dominate a lot of books-
People who love Australia are not ashamed to expect another kind of tomb.
"I want to beat them," said Mark Rubbo of the reader's league.
The owner, as he stared at the border across Lygon Street, was discussing Amazon.
"I don't like the behemoth that devours everything.
"Amazon's global control over how many of the world's shopping habits are a problem for a variety of retailers.
To the best of the site's knowledge, "All stores" now store about 0. 4 billion products, from toothpaste, TV to sex toys, since Amazon announced its plans in April, shares in several Australian retail chains have fallen.
But changing Australian reading habits can be a bigger challenge.
Books have great symbolism, not only because they are Amazon's first product, but because companies often use them to enter new markets, it is also because books and bookstores are closely linked to Australia's self-awareness and the country's popular local business ecosystem.
Do you know all the custom experiences of the American urbanite revival: handmade butchers and barbershops, gourmet grocery stores and community bookstores?
In Australia, they never really died even though the mall weakened their strength.
Here, many Australians can buy a novel, sausage and shampoo in three different stores, each owned by a neighbor with children in the local school.
Big box stores are rare and independent bookstores are also powerful: In 2015, according to Nielsen, their sales accounted for about 26% of the Australian book business, up from 20% at the end of 2000, the proportion of nonpartisan Americans has more than doubled. Romantics (
And some booksellers)
Australians only like local food. Cynics (
And some economists.
Think that many Australians are just rich and complacent and are not familiar with the more convenient options they will eventually embrace and fall in love.
Anyway, this is clear: Amazon's arrival is not only a stress test for individual retail categories, but also a stress test for Australia's own writing and lifestyle.
"Our culture and all cultures are overwhelmed by the influence of the outside world . "Rubbo said.
"We are fighting to defend our voice.
Amazon's first "fulfillment center" in Australia is at the intersection of several highways about an hour south of central Melbourne.
There are food companies and warehouses near and inside the Penguin Random House, with space for millions of products.
Union organizers say they are keeping a close eye on the location to ensure new employees receive a minimum wage of about $18 and about $14 in Australia. 50.
But in a recent visit, the warehouse was empty except for several gray shelves in the middle of the gray floor.
Only construction workers wearing neon lights
Bathroom with green decoration.
The next guess is who.
Amazon declined an interview request and did not respond to an email with a specific issue.
The company is known for this kind of thing and prefers buzz rather than transparency, which in Australia excites many people who want an easier, broader online shopping experience --
With real estate speculation in the Warehouse Market, Australia Post launched a new free delivery service, which the chief executive of a large retail group described as "a healthy sense of paranoia ".
Booksellers know this feeling.
Amazon has yet to explain why it will take so long to bring its entire retail business to Australia, but Australians have been able to order from Amazon's US site for years, even with high freight charges, the booking price is usually equal to or below the price of Sydney or Melbourne.
Australia already has other digital booksellers, including Booktopia, an Amazon subsidiary from the UK, and Booktopia, a startup.
Almost public news last year.
According to the company, Booktopia's ceo, Tony Nash, controls about 4% of Australia's book market, saying Amazon has made everyone more competitive.
Booktopia, for example, now uses conveyor belts, automatic packaging machines, and staff of 150 people to hand over books to customers who, in some cases, order on the same day.
"It has nothing to do with the price," he said. Nash said.
Especially in countries with a wide population like Canada and Australia, where 24 million people are distributed on continents like the United States, "it's about logistics.
But, as Australians know better than most, isolation can help and hurt.
Sean guy, manager of Darwin bookstore, the northernmost major city in Australia, said if he lives in a more isolated community, such as Alice Springs, located in Australia's inland desert region, "I might find it much easier to get on the Internet for five minutes than to call a local bookstore.
For most others, he added, bricksand-
Books are still valid.
"You can never beat Amazon's price, but you can save time by going to the store," he said . ".
"People like to support local businesses.
Australia already buys more books per person than Americans (
According to Nielsen's sales data)
Spend more time reading
Text's publisher, Michael Hayward, an independent publisher who blends Australian new artists and well-known writers, including Helen Garner, said that perhaps Australia has established enough independence, peace with Amazon.
"I believe we can eat cake," he said in an interview at Melbourne's office . ".
But under the calm of his angerand the not-so-
Hope Amazon can help sell more books
There is a broader focus.
"Let's not outsource our thoughts to narcissism of global algorithms," warned Anna Fuld, author of Stasiland and what am I, "At a bookseller meeting last year.
She is not alone.
"People who work in the book industry are agents of culture, not just business tools," said Tim Winton, author of Australian classics such as cloud Street, one of the best restaurants in Australiaknown writers.
"When you deprive them of their role as a cultural agent and simplify them into a capitalist instrument, it changes that dynamic.
In interviews with a dozen booksellers, authors, independent publishers and lawyers specializing in copyright work, there are two worst --
A case scenario appears.
A widely considered and more likely issue is that Amazon has persuaded big publishers in Australia to offer substantial discounts and promises faster delivery, driving down prices and author royalties for all books, and it is possible to put the order of the independent bookseller at the end.
"Amazon controls the negotiation process," said David Gunter, a joint company.
Owner of Sydney Gleebooks.
"If they choose to sell Richard Flanagan's new book for $9.
99, "he added, referring to Australia's last Booker Prize winner, who launched a new novel," We will not sell any of them.
According to booksellers and authors, the second nightmare scenario is that Amazon will find a way to tilt Australia's labor, tax and import laws in a direction that benefits itself.
As Amazon has done in Europe, employee stock grants can be used to reduce tax liabilities.
What Amazon may also do is that lawyers and advisers are already playing games while lobbying the Australian government, which now seems determined to protect its own government.
Starting from July, a new digital service tax will be imposed on all goods purchased online at a $1,000 ($780) or less.
Netflix, eBay and Amazon will all be affected.
Australian lawmakers have also resisted calls from economists for the government productivity committee to lift restrictions on Australia's parallel imports.
These rules actually give Australian publishers a national monopoly on any books they publish.
If the book is published by an Australian copyright holder within 30 days of its overseas offering and the Australian publisher can provide the book within 90 days, booksellers are not allowed to import books from another country.
Critics say the rules are protectionist and the reason books are overpriced.
But copyright lawyers say these restrictions should prevent Amazon from storing cheaper books shipped from abroad in warehouses.
These works are widely regarded by writers as the foundation of Australian literature and culture.
The copyright law, which came into effect in May 1969, essentially created a protected market, before the country's books were almost entirely dependent on the UK.
Now, many authors say any effort to soften the rules or get Amazon to bypass the rules will weaken local publishers and reduce royalties, let Australia re-rely on outsiders who may not be willing to publish the current Australian Writers Series.
"What worries me is the return of this cultural power . "
Winton has published more than 20 books for adults and children.
For Australia, he said, Amazon could represent a step back: "It's a step back.
"At the Readings flagship store on Lygon Street, Australian writers present outstanding displays on the front desk and on the first shelf that people see.
Riverbend Books in Brisbane is another independent bookseller familiar to publishers and authors, and about 60% of the Books are written by Australians.
Will Amazon give the same boost to local authors?
Will it publish and print its own books in Australia or will it make sellers of old books more dominant?
Will it spoil or compete with the community ethos represented by bookstores like reading?
"We have a lot of problems . "
The 69-year-old Rubbo, a quiet, casual man with strong blue eyes, has expanded his reading to seven places in and around Melbourne over the past 41 years.
He said that since the advent of the border line in 2002, reading and many other bookstores have strengthened their ties with local authors and readers.
Now the event has become the norm;
Reading will reach 260 this year alone.
The most powerful independent bookstore, although sometimes maintained a feeling of 1990, is equipped with a row of music CDs, but also with universities and schools as well as Australia's well-
Famous writers 'festivals in Sydney, Melbourne and other places.
While many customers are willing to buy some items from Amazon, they seem satisfied with the current situation of the book.
Sonya Theys, 24, said: "I like to read the physics book itself, and I like to have the opportunity to find something you can't find . " He was reading last night.
The author is more enthusiastic.
"If literature is a religion, a bookstore is a church . "
The award-winning novelist who also happened to work at the Reading Conference.
"It's a delicate balance.
Amazon's deal with publishers could make it all a mess. Mr.
Rubbo said he has urged them to keep playing fair and not give Amazon any special treatment on delivery time or price.
Suzy Wilson, owner of Riverbend, also asked the same question to major Australian publishers.
She said she was told not to worry.
"They really gave me a little encouragement," she said . ".
But as negotiations continue between Amazon and local publishers, the main players remain silent.
Penguin Random House and Hachette declined to comment. Michael Gordon-
Smith, chief executive officer of the Australian Publishers Association, sent a statement via email: "We welcome any new approach to providing books to Australian readers, as well as any new investments in the Australian industry, these investments are consistent with good corporate citizenship and respect for the rights of creators. ”Ms. Wilson and Mr.
Rubbo says the power of Amazon will change the will of even the frog at the bottom of the well. intentioned.
In their nightmare, they saw a decline in income, closed stores, and the community fell into silence.
"The survival and prosperity of these places is very important," Ms. Wilson said.
"I hope I'm a little more optimistic.