R.I.P. Hastings

 July 27, 2016

Originally printed in the Batesville Daily Guard

By the end of the year, a store that became sort of an institution for collectors of music, books, games, movies and toys will be gone.

Last Thursday, Hastings announced that it could not find a buyer and would thus be liquidating its inventory. For many people in small cities and towns, it means the end of the only place that allowed them to indulge interests that they would otherwise have to go to larger towns for.

For those who came of age after the internet changed society, that may not be so much the case. After all, they grew up during a time where there’s a world of options at their fingertips. And let’s face it, those of us who used to show up at Hastings the day we got paid (or got an allowance for some) are probably buying music and books on Amazon, eBay or even Barnes and Noble now. 

Nothing wrong with that. But it is still sad that Hastings is going to go. After all, stores like Hastings provided fandom and collectors a place to socialize and converge where there would otherwise be none.

Plus, when you were shopping, or even just browsing, for things on the shelf, you often inadvertently discovered something new. It might have been cover art or a title that caught your eye, but this other CD, DVD or book was something you wanted to know more about. That was part of the joy of getting out of the house and shopping.

What killed Hastings?

Failing to adapt, of course.

After all, it never really shifted its models to compete in the digital realm. You couldn’t go to Hastings online and download an album or book, like you can at other digital vendors. It didn’t have an answer to the Kindle or the Nook, which might have killed the market as far as printed books, but led the way to an explosion of digital reading.

The digital music and movie markets of course, were already dominated by the likes of iTunes, Amazon and others. Even if Hastings tried to jump in, it’s questionable what it could have offered that wasn’t already elsewhere.

So, in a way, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that it would eventually die. But, it’s been a long death. The company hasn’t increased its profit in years, hanging on to life through the sale of collectibles and licensed products, two things that just couldn’t make up for the profits that book, DVD and CD sales used to provide.

Hastings’ closing will leave a void. After all, we might do a lot of shopping online, but many of us also still like to go into stores and browse, whether it’s to kill time at lunch or just get out of the house. Sometimes we still learn about something new just by seeing it on the shelf. With Hastings gone, much of that will be gone in small towns like Batesville.

Sure, there might be a few small mom and pop stores to open in its wake. But it won’t quite be the same and it’s a very big “might” considering the lack of profitability when it comes to physical entertainment media nowadays.

Time will tell though. With this former giant slain, we might see a new life for the small speciality stores.

Or we might just see the digital giants simply get bigger.

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