Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
For all B&N's problems, they still sell a lot of books. Around 23% of 2017 sales. Maybe 150M of them. They just aren't selling as many as they used to and not generating enough revenue to support the big store format.
I think there might be room for 30 or 40 big format specialty bookstores (Powell's, for example) scattered about and a ubiquitous chain or two of small shops focused on local casual readers. In the UK Waterstones is looking in that same direction, creating a set of small shops focused on their locality, some without the Waterstones name. Essentially a chain of Independent stores.
B&N could do that. But first they have to let go of their big store fetish.
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Unfortunately, the employees would have been laid off anyway. It just started early.
Another issue facing B&N (and other brick retailers) is the high cost of commercial leases. The latest B&N investor report said that most of their leases expire in 2 years. I expect many closures with subsequent layoffs. Maybe, they will then lose their big store for smaller ones.