Barnes & Noble’s New Comeback Plan - Page 8

tdonline · 12-15-2016, 07:01 PM

Looks like I'm in the minority here. I appreciate the BN in my neighborhood--for all the reasons cited as negatives in the thread. I'm 100% e-book and audio so physical books aren't much use to me (eyes can't handle them anymore). My BN is great for quick drive-by present buying just before heading out to a birthday party scenario. And this scenario must be popular--hence the free the wrapping paper! It's also a place to drop by when there's a blackout on my block or the internet connection goes out. And finally, it anchors the downtown area--rather a BN than another mediocre restaurant or boutique clothes shop that dominate my neighborhood.

ZodWallop · 12-15-2016, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdonline

Looks like I'm in the minority here. I appreciate the BN in my neighborhood--rather a BN than another mediocre restaurant or boutique clothes shop that dominate my neighborhood.

I'll second all of that. Where I live, across the street from the mall there's the new outdoors mall, Market Street. Since the giant Borders there closed, I've stopped going to Market Street altogether. A mall without a book store feels soulless to me.

WT Sharpe · 12-16-2016, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shalym

So they added a full service restaurant and removed an entire floor. I'll bet Walmart has a larger book selection than they do now.

Shari

The book section at Wal-Mart doesn't tempt me in the least. Their selection of books is banal to the third power.

Wearever · 12-16-2016, 10:42 AM

Well there is a reason why B&N is the last book store left in most retail places or malls. They put all the other book stores out of business. Dalton, Boarders, just to name a couple. B&N through consistent mismanagement, has lost it's market share, after it put all the other book store competition out of business. If we just have Walmart left , it's because B&N went out of business all by itself, sadly.

ZodWallop · 12-16-2016, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wearever

Well there is a reason why B&N is the last book store left in most retail places or malls. They put all the other book stores out of business. Dalton, Boarders, just to name a couple.

To be fair here, B. Dalton was owned by Barnes and Noble in the same way Waldenbooks was owned by Borders. Barnes and Noble didn't so much put B. Dalton out of business as they switched from smaller stores to larger ones.

Borders put their own selves out of business. Remember how they directed on-line business to Amazon?

I agree with the rest of your post. Barnes and Noble and Borders definitely put the hurt on mom and pop bookstores. I miss the days of B. Dalton, Waldenbooks and Crown Books. But lumping all their sad fates at the feet of B&N probably isn't fair. If they were that skilled, they'd be doing better now.

fjtorres · 12-17-2016, 07:52 AM

B&N is a one trick pony.

And it's gone too lame to perform the one trick.
Their whole business model was based on being bigger, with a bigger catalog and deeper pockets that competitors. So they offered more titles than their smaller competitors at prices their competitors couldn't match. By 2009 (the year of the hardcover price war they sat out) the strategy had lost its luster and they were the high cost player among the big boys and there were no more small fry within reach to fuel growth. Once they bought out and shut down the smaller chains there wasn't much left in their bag of tricks.

By 200k the "big fish" of the 90's had proven to be a small pond bully, unable to keep up with bigger players using the same discount tactics on a more focused scale (Walmart and Target) or even across the board (Amazon):

http://www.masslive.com/entertainmen...rt_and_am.html

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014...83801653144662

http://nypost.com/2009/10/21/barnes-...ook-price-war/

They tried to same thing against Kindle (ca 2010-11), thinking that because Amazon originally sold Kindles at a solid profit they wouldn't go to near-cost pricing. Not only did Amazon go there, they went to "Special deals" pricing *and* leveraged the ads into what is now a billion dollar a year business. (Them boys are tricky.)

They're still looking for a new trick the pony can perform.

Rbneader · 12-17-2016, 06:05 PM

I loved B&N for a long time, but the clueless management decisions have really put a nail in the coffin for me. I bought 4 devices from them because they offered something competition didn't. Expandable storage, screen resolution high enough to read comfortably, integration with an existing book store I went past regularly, these were all selling points. B&N management has systematically stripped them away to chase becoming an Amazon clone.

That entirely misses the point of competition! B&N can't outspend Amazon, can't offer as deep network of content as Amazon, doesn't have the infrastructure of Amazon. They needed to establish their own brand quickly enough to capture a fast-moving market, and utterly failed to do so.

Now I don't think there's any real hope. The chain's going to survive in some fashion, but I can't imagine ever spending hours in a B&N with my kids like my parents did with me.

12-16-2016, 10:42 AM	#109
Wearever Wizard Posts: 1,063 Karma: 10944084 Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: New England Device: Oasis 2,Voyage, Kindlle hdx 8.9, Ipad mini 4. Air 2	Well there is a reason why B&N is the last book store left in most retail places or malls. They put all the other book stores out of business. Dalton, Boarders, just to name a couple. B&N through consistent mismanagement, has lost it's market share, after it put all the other book store competition out of business. If we just have Walmart left , it's because B&N went out of business all by itself, sadly. Last edited by Wearever; 12-19-2016 at 08:34 PM.

12-17-2016, 07:52 AM	#111
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	B&N is a one trick pony. And it's gone too lame to perform the one trick. Their whole business model was based on being bigger, with a bigger catalog and deeper pockets that competitors. So they offered more titles than their smaller competitors at prices their competitors couldn't match. By 2009 (the year of the hardcover price war they sat out) the strategy had lost its luster and they were the high cost player among the big boys and there were no more small fry within reach to fuel growth. Once they bought out and shut down the smaller chains there wasn't much left in their bag of tricks. By 200k the "big fish" of the 90's had proven to be a small pond bully, unable to keep up with bigger players using the same discount tactics on a more focused scale (Walmart and Target) or even across the board (Amazon): http://www.masslive.com/entertainmen...rt_and_am.html http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014...83801653144662 http://nypost.com/2009/10/21/barnes-...ook-price-war/ They tried to same thing against Kindle (ca 2010-11), thinking that because Amazon originally sold Kindles at a solid profit they wouldn't go to near-cost pricing. Not only did Amazon go there, they went to "Special deals" pricing and leveraged the ads into what is now a billion dollar a year business. (Them boys are tricky.) They're still looking for a new trick the pony can perform. Last edited by fjtorres; 12-17-2016 at 07:56 AM.

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12-15-2016, 07:01 PM	#106
tdonline Addict Posts: 309 Karma: 2644486 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: PW3, Nook Simple Touch	Looks like I'm in the minority here. I appreciate the BN in my neighborhood--for all the reasons cited as negatives in the thread. I'm 100% e-book and audio so physical books aren't much use to me (eyes can't handle them anymore). My BN is great for quick drive-by present buying just before heading out to a birthday party scenario. And this scenario must be popular--hence the free the wrapping paper! It's also a place to drop by when there's a blackout on my block or the internet connection goes out. And finally, it anchors the downtown area--rather a BN than another mediocre restaurant or boutique clothes shop that dominate my neighborhood.

12-17-2016, 06:05 PM	#112
Rbneader Fanatic Posts: 503 Karma: 2661351 Join Date: Mar 2012 Device: None	I loved B&N for a long time, but the clueless management decisions have really put a nail in the coffin for me. I bought 4 devices from them because they offered something competition didn't. Expandable storage, screen resolution high enough to read comfortably, integration with an existing book store I went past regularly, these were all selling points. B&N management has systematically stripped them away to chase becoming an Amazon clone. That entirely misses the point of competition! B&N can't outspend Amazon, can't offer as deep network of content as Amazon, doesn't have the infrastructure of Amazon. They needed to establish their own brand quickly enough to capture a fast-moving market, and utterly failed to do so. Now I don't think there's any real hope. The chain's going to survive in some fashion, but I can't imagine ever spending hours in a B&N with my kids like my parents did with me.

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