Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 83 posts

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#11

Post by keiferski »

Since he embarked on the Barnes & Noble redesign in 2020, Mr. Daunt has demonstrated that consistency doesn’t rank very high on his priority list. New York City has nine Barnes & Noble stores featuring four different logos above the front doors.

A lot of brands benefit from uniformity, knowing that your coffee or burger at Starbucks/McDonalds/wherever is functionally the same in Tokyo or Toronto. I think book stores and other "cultural spaces" might not benefit from this, and the more local flavor, the better. So, this lack of consistency might be more deliberate than it seems.

(As an aside, I dislike the uniformity of global brands and my favorite chain locations were ones unique to the location. This Costa Coffee in Sopot, Poland, being one of the more interesting examples: https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g274735-...)

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#12

Post by abid786 »

ddek wrote: post #4
politelemon wrote: post #3

It's always nice to read about their "comeback" story. There are no BN stores in the UK or I think it would be worth visiting. I guess our equivalent is Waterstones? But no idea if they've been going through similar moves to appeal to customers.

my understanding i’d that the ceo who revived waterstones is now reviving BN.

Clearly you didn't read the article

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#13

Post by highwaylights »

ceruleanseas wrote: post #5
ddek wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my understanding i’d that the ceo who revived waterstones is now reviving BN.

From the article: “Mr. Daunt proved his book-selling bona fides as the founder of Daunt Books in London and, more recently, as the executive who rescued Waterstones, Britain’s largest bookstore chain. The hedge fund Elliott Advisors took a majority stake in Waterstones in 2018; the next year it bought Barnes & Noble for $683 million and installed Mr. Daunt, a Cambridge-educated Brit, as its leader. (He is still the m…

This doesn’t surprise me at all. Waterstones have been pushing the “tat” further from the entrance and really are focused on being what bookstores were pre-Amazon.

My local Waterstones is the last surviving dedicated book store in the city and is really a destination as much as anything else. They run a lot of activities in their coffee shop too (book clubs and such).

I was certain covid would have been the final nail in the coffin but their renewed focus really is working - they’re thriving in a way they haven’t been in 20 years.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#17

Post by randcraw »

huytersd wrote: post #7

I wish they served beer and wine there.

I wish they sold BOOKS. My local B&N (15 miles north of Philly) has converted 25% of shelf space to toys. The tradeoff: just 2 shelves of computer-related books, now titled "Technology", most of which are about using Windows or Office.

Does this trend reflect the dumbing down of B&N or its customers?

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#18

Post by thaumasiotes »

highwaylights wrote: post #13
ceruleanseas wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article: “Mr. Daunt proved his book-selling bona fides as the founder of Daunt Books in London and, more recently, as the executive who rescued Waterstones, Britain’s largest bookstore chain. The hedge fund Elliott Advisors took a majority stake in Waterstones in 2018; the next year it bought Barnes & Noble for $683 million and installed Mr. Daunt, a Cambridge-educated Brit, as its leader. (He is still the m…

This doesn’t surprise me at all. Waterstones have been pushing the “tat” further from the entrance and really are focused on being what bookstores were pre-Amazon. My local Waterstones is the last surviving dedicated book store in the city and is really a destination as much as anything else. They run a lot of activities in their coffee shop too (book clubs and such). I was certain covid would have been the final nai…

The "tat"?

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#19

Post by LordN00b »

randcraw wrote: post #17
huytersd wrote: post #7

I wish they served beer and wine there.

I wish they sold BOOKS. My local B&N (15 miles north of Philly) has converted 25% of shelf space to toys. The tradeoff: just 2 shelves of computer-related books, now titled "Technology", most of which are about using Windows or Office. Does this trend reflect the dumbing down of B&N or its customers?

....or does it reflect how we consume our information about technology these days? How quickly are tech-books out of date?

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#20

Post by brylie »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #18
highwaylights wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn’t surprise me at all. Waterstones have been pushing the “tat” further from the entrance and really are focused on being what bookstores were pre-Amazon. My local Waterstones is the last surviving dedicated book store in the city and is really a destination as much as anything else. They run a lot of activities in their coffee shop too (book clubs and such). I was certain covid would have been the final nai…

The "tat"?

Noun (UK)

anything that looks cheap, is of low quality, or in bad condition:

Like most souvenir shops, it sells a lot of old tat.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tat

Post reply on HN