Quote:
Originally Posted by Sregener
If what I'm suggesting is that B&N become, once again, a traditional book store, you're right! This is what has been lost, in their "chase the trend of the day" approach that, coupled with severely overpriced titles, has led them to the brink. I don't believe they have the means to compete with the big boys on the big boys' turf, so they're going to have to be different.
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Over a year ago, Eoin Purcell summed it up nicely:
http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2011/10/...three-choices/
Booksellers have to either:
- Bet on digital and phase out reliance on print - Amazon's approach
- Bet on retailing - Indigo's approach
- Bet on books - the indies' approach
B&N has tried to do all three at once and while they have spawned a locally-prominent ebookstore that might serve as a lifeboat in case their B&M business implodes, Nook is not strong enough to carry the load of the rest of B&N. Mostly because in trying to simultaneously revamp the B&M operation they didn't devote enough attention/resources/whatever to Nook.
They still have to choose since it is pretty clear they don't have the pockets to do all three.
As I said above; *I* would sell off Nook and bet on books. If only because the other two roads aren't working well enough to bet the company on.
To paraphrase Conan Doyle: "When the unworkable has been eliminated, whatever remains, however unpalatable, must be carried through."
High volume bookselling at B&M *can* be a profitable business.
To figure out how, just ask yourself: What would Amazon do?
And the answer to that is customer focus, logistics, low prices.
If B&N doesn't get their act together, we just might get to see Amazon step up to B&M.