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Originally Posted by rhadin
I don't think either Target or Wal-Mart would venture into the business, but Google has with Google Books. I agree that Google hasn't the know-how to do this on its own, which is why I think a matchup with Kobo/Chapters/Indigo would be the way Google would go.
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We're actually talking about different things.
You're thinking of this as the
book business. I'm
not. I see struggling brick and mortar
retailers, who just happen to be selling books.
Like I said, Google knows nothing about that business. The question is whether it should try to learn. The business world is full of corpses of companies who diversified outside of their core strengths, and found out the hard way that the ability to manage and grow one kind of business doesn't magically make you capable of managing another.
It's why I think a hypothetical buyer for either or both companies would have a better chance if it, too, was a retailer, and understood the trade.
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Of course, Amazon has thrived without B&M stores and I can also see Google buying Borders and B&N primarily for their customer lists and to close the B&M stores altogether. Actually, that would make a great deal of sense and allow Google to take on Apple and Amazon directly.
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I can't see it. It would get Google the respective customer lists, but how much are they really worth? If I were Google, and that was what I wanted, I might just bide my time and wait till the merged entity failed, then buy the lists as an asset at a bankruptcy auction.
Closing stores has a high cost. You don't just say "That store is now closed." Aside from termination expenses for the folks who worked there, you have little details like outstanding leases on the physical store. I don't have a good feel for what the total costs might be, but I'd expect them to be substantial.
Google can already take on Amazon and Apple in pure digital sales, since they have the existing infrastructure. Taking on Amazon as a retailer selling/shipping
physical good is quite another matter.
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Dennis