Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
When you live by sales volume, you die by sales volume.
And the day of the superstore chain is just about done.
It's all a matter of time, now.
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Though I mostly agree with your analysis, I don't think the dire predictions will necessarily become a reality in the near future. Тhere is still enough market for a book superstore out there. Just not as much market there was 10-15 years ago.
If you recall, 15-20 years ago the number of book superstores was quite a bit smaller than it is today. The growth in B&M bookstores, especially in the suburbs has been tremendous. Perhaps there was never need for this much book delivery capacity at the first place? The chains failed to realize that B&M floorspace growth was not necessarily the best model for their business.
I believe the superstores should and will survive in the densely populated areas of the U.S. There is enough people out there who like the feel of going to a bookstore, spending time browsing the shelves, buying gifts, buying books, having a latte at the cafe - in whatever order of priority. These people don't necessarily look for the best bargain and the cheapest price: if you like cheap coffee, you don't go to Starbucks, you make your own. But there are people at Startbucks nonetheless.
The question is, will
Borders survive? I believe, if they enter the bankruptcy protection and the court allows them to swiftly shutdown the consistently non-profitable stores, they have a good chance for staying in business. Even with their current business model.
Of course, the crazy daily 33% off coupons have to stop. Even Amazon is not stupid enough to give a 33% discount on every book they sell. The discount should apply to the current bestsellers, the backlist items, computer books, etc. should be purchased at near full price. I am afraid it's too late to seriously compete with Amazon and B&N in the electronic content delivery business. At the very least they should stop pushing the Netronix made Kobo hardware that has "made in China" written all over it. The Kobo ebook store is OK, but Borders should get rid of their plethora of e-readers and leave only the classy Sony Readers on display.
If Borders cut the losses and returned to catering to slightly above average clientèle, the niche is probably still there for it to fill...