Borders Poised to Buy B&N

[jbcohen]

What non-BN/Borders stores are there? I have a Books A Million in the Nation's Capital, don't know if BAMM is owned by BN or Borders.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

I think they can be if, combined with the cafe and events, you can turn them into a chain community-centric places with an indie bookstore feel. The problem is that you can't just turn out store managers from a mold. The stores would have to run like indie bookstores. Each one would be a little bit different, in keeping with its community environment.

Which might be the biggest sticking point.

One of the problems for large retail chains is precisely maintaining a community centric approach. Years back, a woman I know managed a bookstore that was part of a small chain. She was in near tears of frustration. Buying decisions for the chain were made at the HQ store, based on what sold well there. Her store had different demographics and the HQ selections didn't match them. She knew what her customers read, but getting that across to HQ was an uphill battle.

Square and cube that, and you get the state of places like B&N and Borders.

I think there's merit in the approach. I despair of changing the corporate culture and operating practices of a major chain to make it happen.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

What non-BN/Borders stores are there? I have a Books A Million in the Nation's Capital, don't know if BAMM is owned by BN or Borders.

It's independent. They're the third largest bookstore chain in the country, operating over 200 stores in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

Corporate info is here: http://www.booksamillioninc.com/
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Connallmac

I think as, Fbone pointed out, this would need to be accompanied with a reduction in the floorspace that the remaining stores would occupy. I would probably shrink the size of the music/dvd sales area to focus on more indie and hard to find content, almost more of a specialty shop; focus on the things I can't get at Best Buy or get from an on demand video service. Perhaps also invest in some very knowledgeable staff.

Fbone has a point, but it's tricky.

There are smaller bookstores, like the Borders Express outlets in various malls. But smaller stores = less shelf space = smaller selection.

Retailing is about sales/sq. ft. Concentration will be on stuff that sells. There's a reason Borders Express stores seem to be mainly best sellers.

The problem with what you would like to see (and so would I. for that matter) would be making enough sales of the indie and hard to find content. Location would be critical: I'd want to be in the low-rent district to keep costs manageable, but if I am, I may have fun attracting the customers that will be interested in what I stock.
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Dennis

[Fbone]

I was even thinking smaller. Like mall kiosks in the walkways where you see the various stalls. Entrance to malls outside. Busy street corners 800 sq ft or so. Located near Starbucks or similar. Lease space in supermarkets and department stores. Keep them small and flexible. Short term leases only.

Make books an impulse items. Put the latest books in window displays. Cater to local preferences.

Bookstores as "destinations" work for some but not everyone. How far would you drive to go to a bookstore? Too far and people turn to the internet.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I was even thinking smaller. Like mall kiosks in the walkways where you see the various stalls. Entrance to malls outside. Busy street corners 800 sq ft or so. Located near Starbucks or similar. Lease space in supermarkets and department stores. Keep them small and flexible. Short term leases only.

My local supermarkets don't carry books, but drugstores do - current top selling MMPB releases, along with magazines.

Department stores tend to have book sections, and these may actually be concessions, leasing space as you suggest.

Make books an impulse items. Put the latest books in window displays. Cater to local preferences.

Catering to local preferences is the tricky part. First, you have to know what the local preferences are.

Bookstores as "destinations" work for some but not everyone. How far would you drive to go to a bookstore? Too far and people turn to the internet.

I don't drive at all to go to a bookstore. I have four within walking distance. The closest is a Borders with an adequate selection, about four blocks away. Seven blocks away is an indie bookstore with a smaller selection but more offbeat stuff. A bit farther (about a 20 minute walk) is a B&N superstore (four floors, and if it's in print they may well have it), and the Strand, a huge second hand/closeout/recycled promo copy place that advertises "8 miles of books" and is not joking. Farther still, but still walking distance for me, are the best Juvenile/YA specialty bookstore I'm aware of, a specialty photography bookstore, and several other things.

Of course, I'm in NYC, so my experience is not broadly applicable.
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Dennis

[Mel]

You have more bookstores within walking distance than the combined B&N/Borders presence in the state of Maine.

Our local bookstore has a horrible selection. It tries to cover all the same ground as the big chains only with less space and buying power. It ends up with just the top sellers in each category. It seems to have less and less local focus the less competition it has. It almost seems like competition would take some of the strain of being everyone's bookstore off it and let it get some personality back.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Mel

You have more bookstores within walking distance than the combined B&N/Borders presence in the state of Maine.

I said my experience wasn't generally applicable.

(Believe me, I am aware of how fortunate I am.)

Our local bookstore has a horrible selection. It tries to cover all the same ground as the big chains only with less space and buying power. It ends up with just the top sellers in each category. It seems to have less and less local focus the less competition it has. It almost seems like competition would take some of the strain of being everyone's bookstore off it and let it get some personality back.

It might be nice if it had competition. It's trying to be everything because it is the local bookstore. Where is the closest alternative?

The problem with personality would be "Does it sell?" Retailing is all about sales/sq.ft., so what it's doing is likely what it has to do to remain a going concern. Will they place special orders for stuff they don't have for you?

I've seen worse, though. Many years ago I was in Shreveport, LA for a couple of weeks. I found two bookstores. One was what looked like an interesting used book store that was never open when I could go by. The other was a combo card/gift/PB bookstore with a novel shelving practice: books were put in the racks in whatever order they came out of the boxes. It was pure random access. It left me wondering if anyone in Shreveport actually read.
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Dennis

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

My local supermarkets don't carry books, but drugstores do - current top selling MMPB releases, along with magazines.


Dennis

My supermarket does stock MMPB books and all are less expensive than Amazon, B&N and Border's. And yet few probably realize this. They are placed next to the greeting cards and candles in a less trafficked corner of the store.

If they were placed more visibly, they may sell a few of them and people will save time and money.

[mlewis78]

Originally Posted by Fbone

My supermarket does stock MMPB books and all are less expensive than Amazon, B&N and Border's. And yet few probably realize this. They are placed next to the greeting cards and candles in a less trafficked corner of the store.

If they were placed more visibly, they may sell a few of them and people will save time and money.

Costco? Other than that, I'm surprised that a supermarket would have discounted books.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

Costco? Other than that, I'm surprised that a supermarket would have discounted books.

CostCo (and competitors Sam's Club and BJ's) are more than just supermarkets - they're warehouse stores that carry almost everything.

I haven't seen supermarkets here in NYC carry books, but discount drugstores like Duane Reade, CVS, and Walgreen's generally have some, along with popular magazines. They are likely supplied by a rack jobber, selected from current popular sellers, and I'd be surprised if the store exercised any selectivity as to what titles were stocked. They are impulse purchase items, grabbed while the shopper is in the store to pick up something else.

Supermarkets in NYC not stocking books is likely related to the cost of space. Rents in Manhattan vary from expensive to astronomical, and supermarkets will allocate the most space and give favored placement to relatively high margin items like frozen foods, deli, and gourmet specialties. It's all about sales/sq ft and inventory turnover, and I suspect books simply don't yield enough revenue for the space they occupy. You will find various magazines like Cosmopolitan and People, and scandal sheets like the National Enquirer and the Star as impulse purchase items at the checkout counter, but they space they occupy is low.

Things will be different in areas where rental costs are lower and the supermarket has more space to play with.
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Dennis

[jasonkchapman]

I was going to mention that I'm also in NYC, so like Dennis, my view doesn't scale to other areas well. One of the things that I like about B&N's approach to the nook is trying to add in-store features. It's an attempt to address the community-based nature of bookstores with the near-impossible task of stocking everything (or being able to afford the square footage to do so).

I know some publishers are exploring ways to combine products, where one price gets you both the p-book and the e-book, assuming that there is a large enough market with "hybrid tastes" (like me) who are not exclusively p- or e-. The customer gets the e-book immediately and the p-book shipped either to the store or home in a timely fashion. You can stock everything in e-, some things in p-, reduce the square footage, and still build on readings, signings, and other events.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

I was going to mention that I'm also in NYC, so like Dennis, my view doesn't scale to other areas well. One of the things that I like about B&N's approach to the nook is trying to add in-store features. It's an attempt to address the community-based nature of bookstores with the near-impossible task of stocking everything (or being able to afford the square footage to do so).

It's also an attempt to do something I wondered about well before the nook appeared: if you sell ebook readers in bookstores, how do you create a continuing engagement with the customer? Once they have a reader, what brings them back to the store to also possibly buy paper books?

I know some publishers are exploring ways to combine products, where one price gets you both the p-book and the e-book, assuming that there is a large enough market with "hybrid tastes" (like me) who are not exclusively p- or e-. The customer gets the e-book immediately and the p-book shipped either to the store or home in a timely fashion. You can stock everything in e-, some things in p-, reduce the square footage, and still build on readings, signings, and other events.

There have certainly been wishes expressed on MR for "Buy the paper, get the ebook free". I believe Baen has done a few things like that, where the hardcover includes a code you can use on the Webscriptions site to get the ebook version.

I'm hybrid as well. I see ebooks as an alternative format, and not a total replacement for print editions. There are classes of ebooks that do not adapt well to electronic publication, and reading printed books is in many respects a different experience. I have about 4,000 ebooks, probably at least as many in paper, and a fair number in both formats.
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Dennis

[pwjone1]

I was over in Europe on business, so did not catch this story when it came out, but I have to say, it just seems highly unlikely. Interesting conjecture, and never-say-never, but with the two #1 and #2 in Books, I don't think it passes muster with the anti-monopoly laws in the U.S. Granted, those are less and less enforced, but it's a Democratic administration, mergers and buy-outs have a little tougher time passing muster. The only way to get around it would be the convince the government and courts that Amazon/Walmart are the real competition.

As a customer of many bricks & mortar bookstores, I'm not sure how I see this playing out. B&N and Borders did a pretty good job on the little mom & pop type bookstores, I sorely miss those. The B&N and Borders play is about variety and pricing. They build bigger, they price cheaper. I personally prefer B&N, they have a discount card which is handy for frequent buyers, and a wider selection of discounted books. I've found the larger Borders stores to be better in Computer books sections. But if they downsize their stores, then it lets back in the mom & pop operations, not a bad thing to my way of thinking, but just doesn't work. If you're small, the local operations beat you on tailoring to the local environment. Certainly the backend distribution systems would benefit from combination, but local stores could pool (and do). However, any time a book is not in stock (either because they don't stock it, or sold out), I order on-line. Why go through the trouble of ordering at the bookstore, just go on-line, shipped to your door (or eBook reader). There I buy more from Amazon, but I run it through a pricing engine first.

But, I have to say I have shifted over my buying, where it makes sense, to eBooks. They're generally cheaper, no need to set foot in a bookstore, point click and purchase, easier to carry with when you travel. Trying to get 100% of my fiction reading there, but am still waiting for a good color + large page eBook reader (the iPad is close) for the rest. Textbooks are somewhere in between. But I tend to be ahead of the curve, I think it will take longer for the average consumer to shift. Their kids will shift, if they're still reading. So probably both B&N and Borders are a bit undervalued, if they were ever to get their internal house in order.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by pwjone1

I was over in Europe on business, so did not catch this story when it came out, but I have to say, it just seems highly unlikely. Interesting conjecture, and never-say-never, but with the two #1 and #2 in Books, I don't think it passes muster with the anti-monopoly laws in the U.S. Granted, those are less and less enforced, but it's a Democratic administration, mergers and buy-outs have a little tougher time passing muster. The only way to get around it would be the convince the government and courts that Amazon/Walmart are the real competition.

I suspect regulatory approval would be forthcoming. Amazon, Walmart and the like are the competition.

As a customer of many bricks & mortar bookstores, I'm not sure how I see this playing out. B&N and Borders did a pretty good job on the little mom & pop type bookstores, I sorely miss those. The B&N and Borders play is about variety and pricing. They build bigger, they price cheaper. I personally prefer B&N, they have a discount card which is handy for frequent buyers, and a wider selection of discounted books. I've found the larger Borders stores to be better in Computer books sections. But if they downsize their stores, then it lets back in the mom & pop operations, not a bad thing to my way of thinking, but just doesn't work. If you're small, the local operations beat you on tailoring to the local environment.

But the big chains beat you on pricing, which is why the mom & pop operations are an endangered species. B&N/Borders are large enough to order directly from publishers. Mom & pop shops must go through a distributor like Ingrams or Baker and Taylor. The distributor takes a cut off the top, so the mom & pop store has less margin to play with and less flexibility on pricing. People shop on price, which is why B&N/Borders are killing the smaller retailers. If I'm a mom & pop bookstore, I can tailor to the local climate, but I can still expect customers to go the the local chain outlet for the stuff they carry, and come to me for the less known stuff. Can I sell enough of the less known stuff to stay in business? I wouldn't lay bets on it.

There are an assortment of small book retailers near me, but they are specialty places with a niche focus, like Juvenile/YA, travel, and photography.

An old friend used to operate an SF/Mysteries specialty shop. He fulminated about how the Association of American Booksellers had misled him about the ability of a single person to run such a shop. (They said it was possible - he discovered he couldn't do it effectively, and my SO worked for his for a while. He closed his doors when the building his storefront was in raised the rent and made it impossible to continue.)

Certainly the backend distribution systems would benefit from combination, but local stores could pool (and do). However, any time a book is not in stock (either because they don't stock it, or sold out), I order on-line. Why go through the trouble of ordering at the bookstore, just go on-line, shipped to your door (or eBook reader). There I buy more from Amazon, but I run it through a pricing engine first.

But, I have to say I have shifted over my buying, where it makes sense, to eBooks. They're generally cheaper, no need to set foot in a bookstore, point click and purchase, easier to carry with when you travel. Trying to get 100% of my fiction reading there, but am still waiting for a good color + large page eBook reader (the iPad is close) for the rest. Textbooks are somewhere in between. But I tend to be ahead of the curve, I think it will take longer for the average consumer to shift. Their kids will shift, if they're still reading.

I have about 4,000 ebooks, and probably a similar number of pbooks. (The ebooks are easier to count.) There are some classes of books (like art, photography, and design) that are poor fits for ebooks. (There's a reason many such volumes are called coffee table books. Size matters in presenting the content.)

So probably both B&N and Borders are a bit undervalued, if they were ever to get their internal house in order.

The fundamental problem both face is declining sales. Same store sales are down across the board, and places like those require volume. We're seeing contraction: B&N closed a large outlet elsewhere in Manhattan because of declining sales. The B&N superstore near me still exists, but it's in a relatively lower rent district.
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Dennis