I've seen a lot of strange and interesting things during my 51 years in bookselling. For example, in the early 1970s, the typical bookstore was about 1,500 square feet; 25 years later, the typical bookstore was 20,000 square feet, and now the typical bookstore is about 5,000 square feet. Some folks might be surprised to learn that all bookstores were originally 'mom and pop' stores, and it was Kmart, not Wal-Mart, that first put many of those bookstores out of business.