Laredo, Texas, set to become the largest U.S. city without a bookstore →

It’s all demographics: only 1 in 5 adults has a college degree, and nearly a third of Laredo’s population lives below the poverty line. Books unfortunately are purchased by people with lots of disposable income.

It’s still sad news, though. The city I live in is just a hair larger than Laredo, but we have a Barnes & Noble, a Waldenbooks, a Joseph-Beth Booksellers (a regional chain with stores as big as Barnes & Noble), and the Morris books shop (a fantastic local indie store), Half Price Books, Black Swan (a dealer in local books, rare books, and first editions), and two or three more small used-book stores. That’s eight stores I can think of immediately. But then, Lexington has a flagship state university and a remarkably well-educated population.

Laredo needs a smart entrepreneur to take advantage of this situation. Surely Laredo’s residents could warm up to the idea of a new book/used book hybrid — especially if it was heavily involved in the community.