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Old 01-12-2013, 07:25 AM   #9
fjtorres
Grand Sorcerer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kennyc View Post
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
Exactly.
The dust has yet to settle so everything is obscured by the disruption.
Sometimes the attempts to get ahead of change do more harm than good.

One thing, though, writing an epitaph for B&N is premature.
Yes, they just fell flat on their face and now their aura of relevance is questioned. A good thing; too much of B&N's role has been tied up in their "last bookstore standing" mystique and the idea that they were too indispensable to fail. Now it is clear that they are *not* indispensable nor are they too big to fail. More, the company as it is now structured and run is looking very much non-viable.
The good news is they're not so close to the edge that they *must* go over.
"Betting on retail" doesn't seem to be working so it may be time for B&N managers to, instead, "Bet on print". There is time for a new and more customer-focused strategy.

Or not.

Maybe B&N does go over the edge.
Won't be the end of the world.
Maybe we go back to the 70's, before the big chains, before the warehouse stores... To newstands and general retailers and indies.

There are still lots and lots of indies out there.
And, going back to the Borders implosion, there was interest in buying up a lot of the stores (at the right price) so there are people keeping an eye on B&M pbook retailing as a business.

Out of the ashes of the (still unlikely) fall of B&N might come a new era of leaner, smarter book retailers and a new national chain or two. (For those that think a national chain is a good idea.)

Times *are* changing and in the open and competitive US market it is the needs and interests of consumers that decide. And if pbook B&M consumers decide they'd rather give their money to Inndie retailers, well, that is their privilege. And their power.

B&N worries overmuch over the future of publishing and they are forever looking to please their BPH overlords. But of consumers' concerns and needs they don't speak of much.

They make a big fuss over not carrying in print what they can't carry in ebook... but only when its Amazon or DC on the other end. When its Mighty MacMillan... Well, then they just look the other way.

This must change.
Or not.
(shrug)

B&N is not indispensable to consumers. And that is why they are where they are, because they don't even try to be.
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