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Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

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Re: Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

#21

Post by mackatsol »

mackatsol wrote: post #20
aksss wrote: post #6

We have one large B&N in town - diverse selection of books and mags, clean, and a sizable quasi-Starbucks cafe with tons of power outlets. I really enjoy it, and frankly compared to our indie bookshops, I prefer it - its volume, sterility, service and anonymity combined with familiarity and an unpretentious attitude. I don't need to see the same homely indie bookmonger making eye contact with me every time I walk in…

Come visit us at Books on Beechwood in Ottawa, Canada.. we have no background music, no attitude, no one will bother you unless you look a bit lost, there are 7K books in the shop.. and we can order in anything you want from about 15 Million titles we have access to. "expectations and shawls" .. hilarious ;-)

Oh yeah, and if you need caffeine.. there's a tea shop next door (the Scone Witch) a Starbucks across the street and a Ministry of Coffee kitty corner.

Re: Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

#22

Post by mackatsol »

toyg wrote: post #19
mrweasel wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that selection is the reason why Danish book stores struggle. They try to present the same best sellers as the super markets, I assume because it's a safe bet. At the same time I'm pretty much forced to buy from Amazon and buy books in English, because only the most popular books are translated, and primarily fiction. I don't get the impression that the bookstore really care to sell a larger selection of bo…

Not just as “safe bet” - margins are higher on new hardbacks.

I wish we were more like the UK.. there the hardcover, trade and paperback editions all ship at the same time unlike here where you might have to wait a year for the paperback.

Re: Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

#23

Post by toyg »

that_jojo wrote: post #15

We all figured this would be coming, but man does it feel weird to be rooting for B&N to stay afloat when they were basically the evil empire of book stores just a handful of years ago. The indie bookstores will probably be around forever, but I'll be super sad the day that the big book store is dead. I'm still fucked up from Borders going under.

Nowadays “You’ve Got Mail” with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan looks terribly outdated, on that side.

Re: Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

#24

Post by te_chris »

Waterstones in the UK did this - they decentralised curation to their store managers. Seems to have worked, at least in the narrow part of London that I inhabit. The stores are generally a lot higher quality than one would expect from a chain bookstore. I still support my local when I can, but for travel books and such Waterstones is great - plus you can reserve an instore copy online and pick up in person (easy when you work in Victoria) for free.

Re: Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

#25

Post by snarf21 »

AndyMcConachie wrote: post #7

The key is curation. Walk into a book store and look around. From different points in the bookstore count how many titles you can see. Which titles can you see entirely and which can you only see the spine of? Count them. Now go to Amazon.com and perform the same experience. Count how many titles you can view at any given time. 10? I buy and read a lot of books. What makes a good bookstore stand out is its selection.…

This is true for you and other discerning readers. A lot of people just want the new Jack Reacher. I doubt there is enough volume or profitability here but who knows.

Interestingly, the only department to actually make money in B&N in the last few years, is the board game section. I think this is how they win. Being more of a general edutainment destination and focusing on kids stuff. 6 page kids picture books cost $7. Parents and grandparents will drop lots on "smart" toys and gifts for kids. I'd be all in on this, expanding with more play area and story times making it a fun place to visit. They already smartly dropped CDs as they have to ability to compete there except maybe to have new releases at the register as an impulse purchases but streaming mostly killed that.

Re: Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

#26

Post by I-M-S »

toyg wrote: post #23
that_jojo wrote: post #15

We all figured this would be coming, but man does it feel weird to be rooting for B&N to stay afloat when they were basically the evil empire of book stores just a handful of years ago. The indie bookstores will probably be around forever, but I'll be super sad the day that the big book store is dead. I'm still fucked up from Borders going under.

Nowadays “You’ve Got Mail” with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan looks terribly outdated, on that side.

You might enjoy the latest episode of a wonderful podcast called Decoder ring - https://slate.com/podcasts/decoder-ring/2020/03/youve-got-ma...

Re: Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

#27

Post by egypturnash »

te_chris wrote: post #24

Waterstones in the UK did this - they decentralised curation to their store managers. Seems to have worked, at least in the narrow part of London that I inhabit. The stores are generally a lot higher quality than one would expect from a chain bookstore. I still support my local when I can, but for travel books and such Waterstones is great - plus you can reserve an instore copy online and pick up in person (easy when…

B&N is doing the same thing Waterstones did because they hired the guy who turned Waterstones around.

Re: Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

#28

Post by dhimes »

snarf21 wrote: post #25
AndyMcConachie wrote: post #7

The key is curation. Walk into a book store and look around. From different points in the bookstore count how many titles you can see. Which titles can you see entirely and which can you only see the spine of? Count them. Now go to Amazon.com and perform the same experience. Count how many titles you can view at any given time. 10? I buy and read a lot of books. What makes a good bookstore stand out is its selection.…

This is true for you and other discerning readers. A lot of people just want the new Jack Reacher. I doubt there is enough volume or profitability here but who knows. Interestingly, the only department to actually make money in B&N in the last few years, is the board game section. I think this is how they win. Being more of a general edutainment destination and focusing on kids stuff. 6 page kids picture books cost $…

Interesting. I bought two games there this past Christmas. They had them- Scrabble, which I went there to get, and some board game based on the movie Jaws that I had never heard of. So I impulse-bought a board game there, and I'm not a board-game guy.

Re: Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

#29

Post by mattferderer »

snarf21 wrote: post #25
AndyMcConachie wrote: post #7

The key is curation. Walk into a book store and look around. From different points in the bookstore count how many titles you can see. Which titles can you see entirely and which can you only see the spine of? Count them. Now go to Amazon.com and perform the same experience. Count how many titles you can view at any given time. 10? I buy and read a lot of books. What makes a good bookstore stand out is its selection.…

This is true for you and other discerning readers. A lot of people just want the new Jack Reacher. I doubt there is enough volume or profitability here but who knows. Interestingly, the only department to actually make money in B&N in the last few years, is the board game section. I think this is how they win. Being more of a general edutainment destination and focusing on kids stuff. 6 page kids picture books cost $…

Our local B&N does book readings for kids a couple times a week. I imagine most do. This drives a lot of kids & parents in. The kids play with a train & do arts & crafts afterwards. Everyone gets a coupon for Starbucks & they typically either have a treat or buy a book before they leave.

In a lot of ways B&N is like an additional public library where you can buy the books & games or just browse. I think that's what makes it different than Amazon. I also think that's their closer competition.

Re: Barnes and Noble’s new plan is to act like an indie bookseller

#30

Post by LanceH »

In the last year or two I've decided B&N is done (caveat, sample size of one). Watching it through the years it has been clear that it was on a downward descent, but lately it looks like they've given up, again maybe only my location.

20-25 years ago, B&N was packed end to end with books. Books were spine out unless they were popular and trying to draw someone in. Coffee table books were limited to a rack or two of shelves near the front for impulse buys. Games likewise had a small section.

Along came the nook. It ate up a large section of the "fiction & literature" area. Obvious classics were still there, but deep cuts were few and far between. About this same time they moved to largely selling trade paperbacks in lieu of mass market paperbacks. So my option to buy a book that was in public domain started at $17.95. My experience at this point was that I would come in and look for something and it usually wouldn't be there. They would helpfully tell me that they could order it for me. The books they did have were the obvious popular ones -- exactly the ones that I knew about and could order from home. There was virtually no discovery.

But maybe that worked. Maybe not everyone is like me. At least they were trying.

Today it looks like they've given up. The ex-nook-section has tables with some books laying out. Most sections have trade paperbacks set up cover out (meaning fewer different books, on more prominent display), and the bottom shelf is empty is large parts of the store. Basically they just aren't restocking anything but the most liquid of books.

I still go every now and then because I have kids, but Half Price Books is far more enjoyable for the possibility of finding something that I'm not particularly looking for.

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