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Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

nytimes.com

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Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#41

Post by bluGill »

camgunz wrote: post #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 arou…

Chains have the money to invest in a large store. 90% of the books in any store are not of interest to any particular reader. However each reader wants a different set. Tiny bookstores often only have 5 books that might interest someone, and when you finish those you have nothing to buy there until they change inventory. A large store will have enough inventory that you can come back for more.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#42

Post by pseg134 »

camgunz wrote: post #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 arou…

Well since you have constrained the answers we can tell you aren’t actually curious so let me just say you are a genius and you have figured it out. Chains are pointless and I wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t all shut down by the end of the week after reading what you wrote.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#43

Post by bluGill »

shiroiuma wrote: post #28
randcraw wrote: post #17

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?

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.

Books on the latest office version lose relevancy quickly. However there.are timeless books on things like algorithms as well.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#44

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

jjgreen wrote: post #32
sherr wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Waterstones bookshop on Tottenham Court Road, London, has a coffee shop and bar in the basement. It's very comfortable and pleasant, although I haven't been in for about five years now.

Sadly, the stock of specialised books is much reduced. The mathematics section used to have its own room , ruled with a rod of iron by a fearsome Russian (?) lady. Now reduced to a couple of shelves. Coffee you can get anywhere ...

I'm wondering how Foyles competes now. It used to be a near-mythical warren of floor to ceiling piles of obscure technical and academic books. At some point in the mid 00s it moved to a cleaner slightly newer building and became tidier and more antiseptic.

The old building has been replaced by a bizarre wrinkly pink-ish box.

I haven't been for years. I'm curious if it's gone more mainstream.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#45

Post by keiferski »

camgunz wrote: post #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 arou…

Consistency is definitely the benefit of chains, especially for travelers. That was one of the original reasons chains like Howard Johnson’s did so well. Today, when abroad, it is still helpful to know that a chain will have predictable food, even if you didn’t fly halfway around the world to eat at McDonalds. Sometimes comfort and convenience beats out novelty.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#46

Post by tonyedgecombe »

NoboruWataya wrote: post #21
keiferski wrote: post #11

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 tha…

They bought Blackwells in Oxford fairly recently. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't change too much.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/feb/28/waterstones-ac...

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#47

Post by tonyedgecombe »

bluGill wrote: post #43
shiroiuma wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Books on the latest office version lose relevancy quickly. However there.are timeless books on things like algorithms as well.

Booksellers rarely understand which those are though.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#48

Post by tonyedgecombe »

dale_glass wrote: post #39
randcraw wrote: post #17

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?

Makes perfect sense to me. I used to have a lot of computer books on my shelves. They're all gone. Internet access is just a given these days, so there's very little reason to have reference documentation in print. And for more complex matters, a good youtube video is superior. Modern software can have extremely complex interfaces. It's much easier to follow along with a Blender video than to gain the same knowledge…

I'm finding myself slipping back to books again now. It's very hard to sift the wheat from the chaff with online stuff.

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#49

Post by NoboruWataya »

gosub100 wrote: post #35
keiferski wrote: post #11

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…

So they're indistinguishable from a local business other than having corporate amounts of capital to weather storms, policies to control workers and inventory (what books to stock), and they send their profits out of the community. Neat

A bookshop able to weather a storm? The horror!

Re: Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

#50

Post by Sprocklem »

yayamo wrote: post #31

Now if only Canada’s largest bookstor, Indigo, would do this. Instead their CEO is intent on moving in the opposite direction. “Mr. Ruis is planning a major expansion in categories such as cookware, tech gadgets and beauty products. “It’s not four or five things; it’s about 400 or 500 that we’re busily beavering away, trying to bring them to market,” he says, sitting in a boardroom at Indigo’s Toronto offices.” https…

I recently visited my local Indigo after having not gone for a couple of years, and was surprised at how little space was dedicated to bookshelves. And even those shelves were surprisingly empty.

I'm sure that those other categories have higher margins, but I can't help but think that Indigo is shooting itself in the foot in the long term: none of those other products are paricularly good in quality or value and I can't imagine people would go to Indigo for many of those products. Instead, I get the sense that people go to Indigo for books, and see and buy those products while they are in the store. With an ever-decreasing selection of books, who knows how they're going to keep up the traffic required.

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