B&N CEO Fired

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kennyc

But why would I go to a store like that when I can do it from the comfort of my home.

In some circles taking a stroll through the bookstore with friends used to be part of the social experience. Compare notes, pick upsooks to read and share... Might still be among younger bookworms...
...though I vaguely remember B&N's customer base (circa 2010) being described as skewing older.

Can't speak for myself since the Borders implosion put an end to that kind of action in my circles.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Or, instead of cards, touchscreens cycling through genre specific covers that can let you surf that genre's catalog and buy right there. Your choice of Kindle, epub (if available) print in a variety of size formats including large print for POD or home delivery. The screen could even be used to solicit recommendations based on a form listing examples of books (or book traits) you like.

It's not hard to imagine a modern book store that can compete with online on features and services. You just have to think of what readers need/want instead of what publishers want.

My library has this. They replaced the computers with free standing iPads. Complete disaster.

You would need large touchscreens (32" at least). Super sophisticated software with an easy to use UI. And have them at or near tables so you can sit and write notes.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Fbone

My library has this. They replaced the computers with free standing iPads. Complete disaster.

You would need large touchscreens (32" at least). Super sophisticated software with an easy to use UI. And have them at or near tables so you can sit and write notes.

If you ever get a chance to take a photo, I'd like to see if that is as bad as I am picturing.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fbone

My library has this. They replaced the computers with free standing iPads. Complete disaster.

You would need large touchscreens (32" at least). Super sophisticated software with an easy to use UI. And have them at or near tables so you can sit and write notes.

32" would be nice but I'm thinking 24" would do for a bookstore if you set them at eye height atop the island bookshelves.

And no, 10" will *not* do.
You need somthing that will cover a good angle of vision at arm's length.
Malls have this kind of panel so it's not blue sky stuff.

Obviously they didn't give much thought to ergonomics.

[LitaVore]

As others have pointed out the huge pull of B&N everywhere I've lived had been the amazingly knowledgeable and well read staff. If someone couldn't give a recommendation or answer your question they'd ask another staff member for you, sometimes several, until you has some kind of answer. Even if it was 'sorry, we don't know' it was still polite and with apology because they cared.

Haven't been in a B&N with that kind of service in a LONG time. Our last remaining B&N in this whole part of the state is under staffed and if you ask for help with anything but the most basic things it's always "amazon would have it/this other book store will have it".

[Froide]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

I'm obviously not paranoid enough, not once did I think a book may be infested with germs

Not just germs, bedbugs, even in upscale areas, and Lord knows what other infestations given the haven public libraries seem to have become for homeless people in some communities. And it's not just books that might be infested - bedbugs have been found in library furniture and audio-visual materials, as well. By extension, and because the same problem's found in other public areas and retail stores, I'm no longer very keen about lounging at or buying tangible items from B&M bookstores.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Froide

Not just germs, bedbugs, even in upscale areas, and Lord knows what other infestations given the haven public libraries seem to have become for homeless people in some communities. And it's not just books that might be infested - bedbugs have been found in library furniture and audio-visual materials, as well. By extension, and because the same problem's found in other public areas and retail stores, I'm no longer very keen about lounging at or buying tangible items from B&M bookstores.

There's only one cure for an infested library

[kennyc]

Ah, the 451 cure!

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by Froide

Not just germs, bedbugs, even in upscale areas, and Lord knows what other infestations given the haven public libraries seem to have become for homeless people in some communities. And it's not just books that might be infested - bedbugs have been found in library furniture and audio-visual materials, as well. By extension, and because the same problem's found in other public areas and retail stores, I'm no longer very keen about lounging at or buying tangible items from B&M bookstores.

Bedbugs, pah we've got dogs so have proper fleas, I mock your bedbugs
And you don't worry so much about germs so much as if you have found all the hairs.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

There's only one cure for an infested library

Let B&N take over?

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Let B&N take over?

Nah, it'll just be a condemned infested library then. With upper management wondering why they can't get anyone to come in through the strip search to an understaffed library of non-readers.

[fjtorres]

On the need for smaller bookstores:

It's gotten to the point where noted industry cheerleaders like Shatzkin have belatedly noticed that bookstores aren't traffic draws and haven't been for two decades:

http://www.idealog.com/blog/barnes-n...early-spelled/

It's a typically tail-chasing muddle of a column but he does point out some meaningful facts, like that books provide two-thirds of B&N revenues (which, given the marginal profitability of the stores means that without the toys and trinkets they'd already be dead) and that most successful non-chain book stores are much smaller, closer to 25k titles than 100k.

Also:

What just doesn’t make it anymore, at least not nearly as frequently, is the “big bookstore”. Although there is no scientific way to prove this, most observers I’ve asked agree that the new indie stores popping up over the past few years tend to be smaller than than the Borders and older indie stores they are replacing. We are seeing book retailing become a mix of pretty small book-and-literary-centric stores and an add-on in many places: museums, gift shops, toy stores. These have always existed but they will grow. And true “bookstore” shelf space will shrink, as has space for “general” books in mass merchants. The indie bookstore share will definitely continue to grow, but whether their growth will replace what is lost at B&N and the mass merchant chains is doubtful. Every publisher I’ve asked acknowledges significant indie store growth in the past couple of years, but they are also unanimous in saying the growth has not replaced the sales and shelf space lost when Borders closed.

Barnes & Noble is clearly rethinking its strategies, but this is one component that I have never seen clearly articulated. Back when I had my “aha!” moment about what was happening with the university press books, I suggested to one B&N executive that they had to figure out how to make the 25,000-title store work.

He said, “that’s not where we are. We’re thinking about the million-title store!” In other words, “we want to manage big retail locations”. This is thinking shaped by what we can now see is an outdated understanding of what the value of a big store is. So now they’re trying to sustain slightly-smaller big locations with things other than books. (Whether they plan to go as low as 25,000 titles in stores that used to stock four or five times that many is not clear. But they did say in their recent earnings call that the new concept stores would get 60 percent of their revenues from books, rather than the 67 percent they get now.) They have added non-book merchandise; now they’re thinking about restaurants. All of that is to increase traffic and to increase sales from the traffic they already get.

After that he goes off into la-la land suggesting that B&N pivot and become an old-school jobber.

Back to the 50's, basically.

That, folks, is book industry™ thinking: trying to solve the problems of today with the solutions of yesterday.

Still, he did get two things right:

1- big stores don't draw any better than small ones and often draw less. Which we've known around here since the last decade.
2- B&N is wasting precious time and resources trying to make big stores work.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

There's only one cure for an infested library

Originally Posted by kennyc

Ah, the 451 cure!

Close! The most effective way to kill those suckers seems to be "thermal death kinetics" (i.e., heat treatments).

[Those unfamiliar with "451" might benefit from reading Wikipedia: Fahrenheit 451].

[MGlitch]

I don't think BN is trying to build restaurants in to their stores, rather they're trying out adding alcohol to their cafe menus. I suspect newspapers may have reported otherwise, and BN hasn't corrected them, but BN's PR team seems to consist of a slightly lethargic hamster who was fed lead paint chips, a pig who eats bacon, and a 1950s ad man who idolizes the pig.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

On the need for smaller bookstores:

It's gotten to the point where noted industry cheerleaders like Shatzkin have belatedly noticed that bookstores aren't traffic draws and haven't been for two decades:

[edit]

Still, he did get two things right:

1- big stores don't draw any better than small ones and often draw less. Which we've known around here since the last decade.
2- B&N is wasting precious time and resources trying to make big stores work.

This would require an extensive amount of market research. What may work in one locale will fail in another. Will people make a special stop to buy a book or two? What about areas where all the indie bookstores have gone out of business?

Or it could be retail in general. Too many stores and not enough people with excessive discretionary spending.