B&N CEO Fired

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Teyrnon

Can't it be saved? It seems to me that there is still a future for brick and mortar bookstores though not in their current form. It'd take forward thinking, creativity, a passion for book selling, and a willingness to embrace changing paradigms. Granted we're unlikely to see those qualities coming from a big corporate chain.

There is one big corporate operation that thinks B&M has a future.

http://time.com/4099690/amazon-books-bookstore/

But their prototype store runs so differently from every traditional bookstore many think it isn't really designed to sell books.

There's quite a few people around here, myself included, who see a future for B&M bookstores but the model we see is an update on the old B. DALTON mall store model replicated en-masse like the Payless shoe store chain or the Gamestop gaming chain: lots of small stores located close to the buyers, something closer to a newstand or comic shop than a book warehouse.

This is not a model B&N (with its enormous storefront leases) can transition to without a rinse through chapter 11. Which is to say their future is pretty dim.

Here, this is what investors are hearing:

http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/0...ring-what.aspx

But here's the bottom line: The company has a core business that is being disrupted by online retail, just like nearly every retail business, and that business is built on selling a product that's also being disrupted by technology. And it just fired its CEO after less than one year.

As the BBC said above: their next CEO will be their fifth in four years.
Next one might as well be Leo Apotheker.

So I wonder how many tens of millions of USD he will get as a severance package? That is the American corporate way. Thank you for screwing up our company even more than it was before you were hired. You are fired! And here is a $400 million severance package.

They should hire me. I'm pretty sure I can screw things up for them even worse than they are now, then I could get my multi-million USD severance package and live happily ever after.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by jswinden

So I wonder how many tens of millions of USD he will get as a severance package? That is the American corporate way. Thank you for screwing up our company even more than it was before you were hired. You are fired! And here is a $400 million severance package.

They should hire me. I'm pretty sure I can screw things up for them even worse than they are now, then I could get my multi-million USD severance package and live happily ever after.

Hell, I'd do it for just a single measly million!

[GA Russell]

I disagree with the BBC's point quoted in post #29 above that people buy from Amazon because their prices are lower.

I believe that people shop at Costco (and their competitors) because of their lower prices.

I believe that people buy from Amazon because

a) you can count on Amazon's books to be cleaner (as in, relatively germ-free), and

b) one-stop shopping is easier.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I disagree with the BBC's point quoted in post #29 above that people buy from Amazon because their prices are lower.

I believe that people shop at Costco (and their competitors) because of their lower prices.

I believe that people buy from Amazon because

a) you can count on Amazon's books to be cleaner (as in, relatively germ-free), and

b) one-stop shopping is easier.

c) I don't have to leave my house.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I believe that people buy from Amazon because

a) you can count on Amazon's books to be cleaner (as in, relatively germ-free), and...

That's for sure. Every so often, my Kindle books might have a virus, but a quick shot of an anti-viral clears it up straight away

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

That's for sure. Every so often, my Kindle books might have a virus, but a quick shot of an anti-viral clears it up straight away

Yours also have earworms!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by kennyc

c) I don't have to leave my house.

That's a big one for me. I've been kicked out of quite a few stores because of their no animals allowed policy and I haven't had any luck trying to convince them that I'm a service animal

[ApK]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I disagree with the BBC's point quoted in post #29 above that people buy from Amazon because their prices are lower.

I believe that people shop at Costco (and their competitors) because of their lower prices.

I believe that people buy from Amazon because

a) you can count on Amazon's books to be cleaner (as in, relatively germ-free), and

b) one-stop shopping is easier.

Originally Posted by kennyc

c) I don't have to leave my house.

I've never heard a) come up as a factor. How many books does Howie Mandel buy, anyway....? Seriously, though I can't believe this is a significant factor among the mass market. We buy used suff at flea markets and on eBay for goodness sake.

I DO think price is a factor and that amazon IS often cheaper than many other options, and low prices were certainly what helped them grow when they started.
But I agree that price is no longer the main thing. For myself, as long as Amazon is reasonably competitively priced compared to other options (if there ARE other options!) I can usually get a book faster from Amazon than ordering at my local B&N, and sometimes the convenience is the main thing. I can remember to stop at the mall, deal with parking, hope they have it in stock, or I can click "Buy" and be done with it.

ETA: And I mean click "Buy" on Amazon, not on B&N's site. Amazon.com is simply a far better eCommerce browsing experience than...well...anything else. Maybe that's related to the b) one stop shopping factor.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by jswinden

So I wonder how many tens of millions of USD he will get as a severance package? That is the American corporate way. Thank you for screwing up our company even more than it was before you were hired. You are fired! And here is a $400 million severance package.

They should hire me. I'm pretty sure I can screw things up for them even worse than they are now, then I could get my multi-million USD severance package and live happily ever after.

You are assuming that Riggio and the Board are absolutely right and Mr. Boire is absolutely wrong.

Considering how screwed up B&N has been for most of the decade, long before he was hired, might it not be that the board didn't like what he had to say after seeing how the company really works on the inside?

Not every fired exec is fired for actual incompetence. Sometimes the exec is competent and trying to do the right thing but the rest of the company is refusing to take its medicine. Howard Stringer's tenure at Sony is a classic example.

Companies have internal cultures and when outsiders come in and try to change that culture the pushback can be fierce. Sometime the exec wins, sometimes the exec loses. Quite often the exec is eventually proven correct, which is one reason we hear so much about the few that truly screw up.

Since most of those contracts come with NDAs we'll probably never know what really went on there. Unless B&N implodes or somebody tries to scapegoat him.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ApK

I DO think price is a factor and that amazon IS often cheaper than many other options, and low prices were certainly what helped them grow when they started.
But I agree that price is no longer the main thing.

Price aside, Amazon has several other things in their favor compared to other online retailers, never mind B&M:

1- breadth of catalog
2- customer service and return policies
3- shopping convenience and (so far) security

And, of course, for those willing to participate, the Prime ecosystem is a great loyalty program.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ApK

I've never heard a) come up as a factor. How many books does Howie Mandel buy, anyway....? Seriously, though I can't believe this is a significant factor among the mass market. We buy used suff at flea markets and on eBay for goodness sake.

I DO think price is a factor and that amazon IS often cheaper than many other options, and low prices were certainly what helped them grow when they started.
But I agree that price is no longer the main thing. For myself, as long as Amazon is reasonably competitively priced compared to other options (if there ARE other options!) I can usually get a book faster from Amazon than ordering at my local B&N, and sometimes the convenience is the main thing. I can remember to stop at the mall, deal with parking, hope they have it in stock, or I can click "Buy" and be done with it.

ETA: And I mean click "Buy" on Amazon, not on B&N's site. Amazon.com is simply a far better eCommerce browsing experience than...well...anything else. Maybe that's related to the b) one stop shopping factor.

Surprisely yes, not leaving home is a big factor.
Agrophobics, people that don't drive or are housebound, people in rural communities, people that don't want to spend the time looking all over town for the product, and about a dozen other reasons.
And those that just don't like shopping.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Not every fired exec is fired for actual incompetence. Sometimes the exec is competent and trying to do the right thing but the rest of the company is refusing to take its medicine. Howard Stringer's tenure at Sony is a classic example.

...also, it's unlikely anyone would be offered a contract with a golden parachute like that with out having a long resume' of proven experience, but I suspect everyone actually knows that, and some folks are just jealous about not having that same market value.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Surprisely yes, not leaving home is a big factor.
Agrophobics, people that don't drive or are housebound, people in rural communities, people that don't want to spend the time looking all over town for the product, and about a dozen other reasons.
And those that just don't like shopping.

True, but staying at home is true of all eCommerce. In absence of all the other things Amazon does better, one would as often buy nice clean books on bn.com or elsewhere.

[GA Russell]

fjt, I would like to hear your Howard Stringer story!