Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Borders Group owns the Waldenbooks chain, for example, which is pretty much entirely located in shopping malls. (And some outlets have been renamed "Borders Express".) I think at least some of them will be viable, depending on location and product mix.
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Dennis
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Actually, that format bookstore would be the most likely to survive into the next decade and beyond...
...if Borders weren't shutting them down.
<sigh>
Sales per square foot is *exactly* the issue.
The superstores killed the independents based on deeper catalog and lower price. But online rules on both catalog and price, so what remains? Ambiance? Do people rushing in for the latest Oprah book club recommendation care about ambiance?
The growing emphasis on bestsellers means the bulk of the floor space goes to slow sellers which means the most efficient bookstore format is the old B. Dalton mall bookstore format; minimal floorspace devoted to genre paperbacks, magazines, and best sellers. In other words, the classic newstand.
Add in a print-on-demand system tied to online sales in the back, a line of branded ebook readers in a corner, and a deli/coffee bar on the side and you just might survive.
The bestsellers and food pay the rent, the paperbacks, ebooks, and POD provide the profits; you get high sales per footage and headcount (staff of four per shift) and you can get by well into the next century.
But that is exactly the opposite of what Borders is doing and even B&N is falling short of that "less is more" model.
As I said, pbooks are not going away anytime soon; but the *big* stores just don't make economic sense. Bookstores won't die but the business model of warehousing pre-printed books stopped making sense ages ago. It's time to change or die.