How a thriving indie bookseller is taking on Amazon's bricks-and-mortar insurgence
She didn't intend to be flippant. But when asked how her independent bookstore will fare with an Amazon store moving in across the street, author Ann Patchett replies:
"They don't have a deaf border collie who jumps through hoops."
Sure enough, Patchett's store, Parnassus Books in Nashville, has a border collie named Marlee, among a handful of shop dogs, that greets customers. It also has a bookmobile, a satellite shop at the airport, events such as a Where's Waldo scavenger hunt and the author appearances that keep independent bookstores going in the digital age.
But none of that is really the key to her store's success, Patchett says. Her best weapon: Geography. Being near an airport with many nonstop flights from cities a
