Ryan Raffaelli, Assistant Professor in the Organizational Behavior Unit, Harvard Business School

This qualitative study examines the decline and unexpected resurgence of the U.S. independent bookselling sector from 2005 to 2018. Five years after the launch of Amazon.com’s bookselling website, the number of U.S. independent bookstores had dropped by 43 percent. Compounded by nearly two decades of price wars and competition from big box retailers, along with the introduction of e-book technologies, many analysts predicted the collapse of the independent bookselling sector altogether. However, in 2010 independent booksellers began to experience an unexpected resurgence, and by 2018 the sector reported a 49 percent growth in the number of “indie” bookstores
across the county. Drawing on seven years of in-depth field observations in 25 states, 114 interviews, and extensive archival data, this study contributes to research at the intersection of field emergence, communities, and industry evolution. More specifically, I introduce several novel mechanisms associated with the role that field and geographic-based communities can play in enabling market regeneration following an environmental jolt. These findings hold broader implications for local businesses and communities attempting to respond to threats from online retailers.