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Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

nytimes.com

21–30 of 83 posts

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#21

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…

If nothing else, uniformity doesn't add as much value to a brand that isn't selling its own product. Nobody really worries that the copy of a book they buy in one shop will be different to a copy bought in another. There are likely some benefits to consistency, like a familiar store layout or knowing that a shop will stock a good range of books, but these are kind of ancillary to the product (and my experience is that these things aren't that consistent across big chains anyway).

There is a great book shop in Dublin, Ireland called Hodges Figgis. It was bought by the UK chain Waterstones in 2011, but you wouldn't know it - they wisely decided not to interfere at all with such a locally beloved brand.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#22

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"?

It means "rubbish" (or "trash").

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#25

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…

Nice to hear of a fund that is reviving a beloved brand and not raiding it in this cynical world.

I don't have hard evidence but I suspect this is more common than you think, it's just we only read about the failures or the aggressive raiding stories (because they make juicier stories).

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#26
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?

It reflects the reality of the internet existing and it being the year 2023 not 2003 I think?

Why on earth would a book store carry any relevant computer technical books nowadays?

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

VLSI design books written in the 1990s/2000s are still relevant today. This is one of the areas which are arguably at the forefront of knowledge advancement, and yet the tools of the trade, concepts, languages are still the same.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#28
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?

It probably reflects the reality of trying to sell computer books in 2023, and what kind of people are willing to buy those books in a mainstream bookstore. Computer books lose relevancy quickly as their information becomes out-of-date, and people who buy them are more likely to look online for the lowest price.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#29
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?

I thought the same recently, but tech changes so quickly that I don't think, except for a place known to be densely tech oriented, have a market for books that go out of date in 1-2 years.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#30
It's not clear to me what the benefit of chains is (before anyone says consistency that's definitely not it) to consumers and markets. I guess the idea was supposed to be something like leveraging economies of scale, but most chains are just fronts for broader supply chains with multiple other clients--it's pretty rare that there's a specific like, Applebee's supply chain. But isn't it clear by now that it's all around bad?
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