This phenomenon is pre-Internet. There were many great used bookstores in New York in the 70' and 80's. I went back twenty years later and most had disappeared. I think it's a function of a certain kind of person that wants to be independent, doing something they love. Those mavericks are gone.
In the early 2000s there were still a lot of great used bookstores in New York. Being younger I could not compare to the 70s or 80s but could see the shocking transformation in the last 20 years. Too many shops closed only to remain empty storefronts
