Would Montanans Pay 62 Cents to Browse?

So, would you pay it? Let me get my corny pun out of the way right now and tell you this is about a book cover charge.

And maybe a British 50-pence fee sounds more normal than the American equivalent of 62 cents, it's still a pretty weird way to run a bookstore.

But that's the business model of a fellow that runs a second-hand book emporium in Hawes, England. He's been nicknamed "the bookseller from hell," because he charges a fee just for coming in and browsing. By his own admission, Mr. Cranky Pants is not a people person. A city councilman says they've received numerous complaints about his entry fee and rudeness, and their concern is what it might do to their town's friendly image.

The owner of the bookstore says he is merely trying to gauge how serious potential customers are. He says the council is overreacting and he also points out that he does not actually collect the money...what??? So, he just likes to be a grump for the heck of it?

Does something tell you the publicity will actually increase traffic to the store?

DB