Comments on: Alabama Bookstop Stop Date: September 15th

By: rose & randy white

rose & randy white — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:56:28 +0000

I like Alabama bookstop (I love that theater)
Please send me and articles if you have one
please thank you

By: d

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:02:58 +0000

retrofitting that building with a commercial kitchen would be rediculously costly. about the only thing the building is good for is retail - maybe another bookstore or a music store.

By: marmer

marmer — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:42:15 +0000

A cabaret or supper club would be great, and wouldn’t require re-installing theatre seating. Making the floor flat might be an issue, but could be done. After all, the famous Jimmie Menutis club of the 50s and 60s was in the Interstate Wayside theatre.

By: Scott Bodenheimer

Scott Bodenheimer — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:19:35 +0000

Why not a fancy cabaret supper club? They have several in San Francisco and New York. It’d be great to have a place to go for dinner and dancing and to hear a great singer or band.

By: marmer

marmer — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:22:30 +0000

RWB says: “Ironically, it is almost a statistical certainty that a few of the books returned to the B&N distribution center in New Jersey will be returned to the shelves at the new B&N on West Grey at some point.”

Can this be comment of the day, or week, or something?

By: RWB

RWB — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:06:48 +0000

Unsold books are returned to wholesalers and distributors and credited against sales for the publisher. Large publishers distribute their own books, small publishers use distributors and/or wholesalers. Remaindered books are owned outright by B&N (owner of Bookstop) and will not be returned. They may end up being thrown out. B&N also owns books published under the B&N brand, but I have no idea what they’ll do with those.

It does seem weird that they won’t be moving any of the books in stock from Alabama to West Gray. It may be for some inventory control reason, or perhaps they don’t want the new store to open with any shopworn books on the shelves. Ironically, it is almost a statistical certainty that a few of the books returned to the B&N distribution center in New Jersey will be returned to the shelves at the new B&N on West Grey at some point.

By: Gus

Gus — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:50:50 +0000

@LT: The linked Chronicle story says most unsold books will be returned to the publisher.

By: marmer

marmer — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:29:38 +0000

RWB, you may be right, but I thought about it pretty hard before posting. I went to the River Oaks theatre a LOT, not as a suburban teenager, but as an employed twenty-something. I always preferred seeing movies in a theatre, even when videos were freely available. I still think it’s worthwhile, and why else would rich people spend all that money on special theatre rooms if there wasn’t something special about the movie theatre experience? You’d have to sell it as being all about the past and tradition, but that’s something that we seem to always be lamenting the loss of around here.

By: NetLawyer

NetLawyer — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:27:51 +0000

Bookstop is ( was ) a unique place. It is part of what makes Houston fun. In a sea of sameness, places like Bookstop in the Alabama theater give Houston character. Even though I dont live in Texas, I do own commercial property in Houston and I read Swamplot to keep an eye on things in the area. The property is too valuable to keep vacant. It would be a great re-development project if the property were ever to hit the market. Even in this down economy, the dollars will be found to rebuild the site.

By: RWB

RWB — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:35:33 +0000

marmer, I think you are blinded by nostalgia. Hey, I LOVED the River Oaks Theater back in the day–hell, it’s what drew me and my movie-loving friends inside the loop when I was a suburban teenager. I literally put the posters of the next month’s shows (which always looked cool as they tried to fit as many images as possible onto a calendar grid) on my wall every month all through high school and college.

But I can’t see it working now. I don’t think the Alabama can be saved by looking backwards. I hope it can be saved by looking forward, by finding a new use that preserves the old form. Bookstop was actually really innovative that way. We need more innovators like that.

By: marmer

marmer — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:27:48 +0000

Hey, there’s a thought! I really don’t think I am being blinded by nostalgia here when I say that a repertory-style theater a la River Oaks in the 80s could be a very attractive thing, even in the Netflix era. Market it as being a modestly priced way to see a classic movie with a big screen and good sound, with decent movie-theatre food. Call it “The True Movie Experience” or something like that. If I could pay, say, five bucks to see Casablanca or The Wizard of Oz or Rear Window in a theatre, I’d do it in a heartbeat, and I don’t think I’m that weird.

By: Tex

Tex — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:43:51 +0000

Here’s a revolutinary idea….What about turning it into a theater?