Dump the Book Bins

The local supermarket has a couple of discount-book bins in the corner of the store. They are filled mostly with children's titles---nothing that I would consider reading, even if they were free. One mystery: the supermarket doesn't sell books, just magazines, so where do the books come from?

Physical publication sales have been falling, and the virus has only accelerated the decline. Few want to touch materials that others have handled.

Some small retailers thrive on selling discontinued items and new products that the big food companies test-marketed but decided not to go forward with. The local market would do well to get rid of the book bins and emulate its smaller competitors.