Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony1988
WTH are you talking about??? First they have been selling games and toys for at least 25 years. Second they have way more books than novelty items there. At my local BN people buy other items all the time. It definitely does not hurt their business since books are not the big sellers they once were...
I don't see why people have such an obnoxious viewpoint towards this???.  |
I think it probably depends on how big the store is and how big the market is. In Boise the Barnes & Noble (a huge store) basically got rid of the music and video/games departments, which left a lot of extra room. And, though they've tried to "fill it up" by getting rid of a lot of the shelves and widening the aisles, it still feels like if you yelled it would echo. Not that the store is empty, it's just huge.
Not all their fault. In Barnes & Noble's heyday, they probably had 10 rows of computer books, now they have one and a half. Not much they can do about that. Very few people buy paper computer books now. And I'm guessing they have the same issue with other departments.
My kids like B&N — the youngest likes the Legos and other toys (they have stuff that's hard to find elsewhere), and the next one up likes the manga comic books because they do tend to have the
whole series in this store. So, I think, Barnes & Noble has to sell what they can sell. When I go there (not that often) I like to look at their self-published stuff, often their own hardback versions of public domain books — or their "coffee table" picture books. Sometimes I'll get something (like vintage cars) for my father.