Quote:
Originally Posted by SensualPoet
...[snip a bunch of good words to just point to this] ... They have about 1500 stores (I previously stated 2000 in error) and a very deep connection into college book distribution -- a unique niche market. ...
|
I just want to throw this speculation out there:
B&N may very well be having trouble on the college bookstore side of the house due to this:
"Among the hundreds of new regulations in the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) passed by Congress in August 2008 are new mandates that require colleges – and more specifically college owned or operated bookstores – to publish the ISBN numbers and retail prices for textbooks, other trade titles, and related course materials that faculty recommend and students buy for classes. ... The ISBN mandate becomes operational in July 2010."
As a college student, I can promise you that I am jumping for joy over bookstores having to use ISBNs. I makes searching for cheaper textbooks [online] that much easier. And yes, I look at Amazon first for used ones. There's some pretty good deals out there on the Interwebz.
So, the one thing that B&N may have been able to rely on - college bookstores - is going to be a little more limited in the future.
Plus - Amazon (there's that company again!) has a new textbook buy-back program. It's very easy now to buy books (used or new) from Amazon and then just send them back for a good price.
Then, there's all the textbook rental places out there.
Who knows what B&N is actually doing - but this announcement about them is a very interesting development in the book-sellers world...
Marilyn