Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow, you have a lux B&N. Most of them are desperately understaffed, between the need to reshelve books, receive inventory, manage "cash-wrap" for the long checkout lines, corral running kids, ask the guy destroying the manga to stop folding the covers, straighten the magazines that have been scattered by readers, pick up the trash patrons leave all over the store, check the bathrooms for various "presents" people lea…
I seem to remember reading a story a few years ago about them laying off all their long tenured employees
Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M
111–120 of 197 posts
Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's actually not - if a competitor thinks it can sell more widgets at a lower price and make it up in the increase volume, they will lower the price. If that's the price which maximizes revenue for them, they'll leave it. It's straight forward supply and demand.
I agree it’s anti-consumer in some significant ways. I think of it as not competing as vigorously as you could on price, by publicizing that for the consumers who are willing to do extra work, that you’ll eventually honor the best price they found at a qualifying competitor, but that you’re not going to be the one who initiates the first salvo in the price war.
It's competing as much as you need to to make the sale, not competing as much as you can.
Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Powell’s is more of a tourist destination. Buy a mug, tote bag, shirt and 3 hardbacks you’ll probably never even read. Plus they’ve made some pretty poor financial decisions. Had to scrap renovating and expanding into a nearby building. Lots of layoffs. If they didn’t own their building they’d be long gone.
I did hear some rumbles about how their nonunion employees were mad at conditions. I am sad their technical bookstore went the way of the dodo.
Yeah I used to live a few blocks from Powell's Technical about 10 years ago. What a place.
Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M
#114I work remote and at least a few times a month I make it a point to work out of my small towns public library. It's so cool! when I do pomodoros and take a 5 minute break, I walk the stacks and find so many books I want to read!
Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M
#115I never thought I'd live to see the day the Riggios ran out of ideas to squeeze more cash out that business.
They've been experts at killing a business slowly. Maybe only Sears has done a better job of extracting value from a death spiral.
Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M
#116Last year I wanted to buy Thinking in Bets (great book, btw). I was feeling impatient, so I looked it up on Barnes and Noble's website, and saw that a store where I was had it in stock. I went in to purchase it, and the price in store was a couple bucks higher than the listed price online. I asked the clerk about it, and he kind of shrugged and said he couldn't do anything about it. I walked out without the book and…
It actually costs them a ton of money to physically label the prices on each book. B&N adds their own sticker over the top of the MSRP when they receive the book. Changing the sticker every time the online price is changed would cost them a small fortune. If you're ever wondering why the online price differs from the in-store price by a significant amount, usually it's not because the retailer is trying to gouge you.…
Half price books has solved this in a rather ingenious way: they just sell the book for half of what the MSRP is on the cover. No need to tag anything, decent markup, and the price data is already there/doesn’t need to be created. It’s little efficiencies like this that make HPB one of the most successful brick and mortar bookstores out there.
Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M
#117So, before we doom and gloom about B&N, it's important to remember that independent bookstores are doing great! https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/why-independent-bookstores-haved-... So why is Barnes and Nobles struggling? A couple of important points: Their inventory and footprint IS HUGE. Large inventory with low turnover is a margin-killer in retail. And I doubt they make much money off the books in their shelves - real…
In the long run, most book stores are doomed. There's no way around it no matter how nostalgic some are for physical books - the medium is an obsolete novelty with the advent of smartphones/tablets. Some book stores will remain but it'll be a niche thing like vinyl records and horseback riding.
Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M
#118Last year I wanted to buy Thinking in Bets (great book, btw). I was feeling impatient, so I looked it up on Barnes and Noble's website, and saw that a store where I was had it in stock. I went in to purchase it, and the price in store was a couple bucks higher than the listed price online. I asked the clerk about it, and he kind of shrugged and said he couldn't do anything about it. I walked out without the book and…
I can’t fathom the decision-making that led to spending the time to go down to the store for some instant gratification and then leaving over a $2 difference.
probably spent $2 in gas too... but sometimes it's just principles.
Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M
#119I hope they don't close, I love going to Best Buy and browse around, then go nextdoor to the B&N to see what's up in the latest comics, graphic novels, and scifi books. My kids love the kid section too.
Re: Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To Elliott Management For About $683M
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can’t fathom the decision-making that led to spending the time to go down to the store for some instant gratification and then leaving over a $2 difference.
Because you don't want to reward bald-faced manipulation. It's not about saving two dollars.
What do you call the manipulation that amazon does then?