Your friendly neighbourhood e-bookstore

There's an article here about the impact of e-books on author royalties. It bothers me a little that the article focuses mainly on 'literary fiction', but let's set that aside for a moment. The following sentences caught my attention:

Unlike traditional bookstores, where a browsing customer might discover an unknown book set out on a table, e-bookstores generally aren't set up to allow readers to discover unknown authors, agents say. Brand-name authors with big marketing budgets behind them are having the greatest success thus far in the digital marketplace.

Actually, not all 'traditional' bookstores are 'set up to allow readers to discover unknown authors. The bookstores set up for this are usually small (local) independent bookstores. E-bookstores aren't local, and at this early stage most aren't independent. E-books are mostly sold via the websites of well-known, established bookstores. I'd like to see an online equivalent of a local independent bookstore; an e-bookstore which displays little-known titles and has a unique layout. Has anyone seen one? I'd like to hear about it if you have.

Call me optimistic, but I think that in time the book industry will grow into this new phase and we'll see the emergence of such stores online.