Quote:
Originally Posted by geekraver
I work 2 minutes walk from a large B&N in a *very* affluent area (Bellevue, WA). I love spending a half hour in the store at lunch hour several times a week. The store wasn't exactly bustling a year ago but its positively dead now, with more staff than customers. There was a Starbucks semi-attached to it, and that has closed down - when all the other Starbucks in the area have a constant stream of customers. Every time I visit I am surprised it is still in business. Even I rarely buy books there - why would I pay full price when I can get Amazon to deliver the book to me next day for much less? And now there is an Amazon brick-and-mortar store 5 minutes walk away. It's soulless, and has 1/10th the selection, but its probably going to pull enough of the remaining business that we're talking days or weeks, not months, before the store shuts down.
Funny thing is, if B&N offered 20-25% off (without requiring payment for a loyalty program) I'd probably buy way more books there. So the solution could be staring them in the face. Half Price Books seems to have figured this out, as they have added new titles at a discount, and they seem to be thriving. But B&N stores won't even match their *own* online prices. If they fail its largely their own doing, IMO.
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I don't know what books you buy....but everything I have checked at Amazon and BN Is about the same. Amazon is not the great savings place everyone makes it out to be...I would also rather pay a bit more for many items in a physical store due to easy returns ...mm