Why Barnes & Noble Is Copying Local Bookstores It Once Threatened | WSJ The Economics Of
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- Опубликовано: 28 июл 2024
- Barnes & Noble grew into a bookselling powerhouse after scaling quickly, thanks to cookie-cutter retail locations. After years of struggling against e-commerce companies like Amazon, the bookstore adopted more of a local strategy, empowering individual stores to decide on inventory and displays.
WSJ explains how that business model has panned out for the bookselling giant.
Photo illustration: Ryan Trefes
0:00 How Barnes & Noble pivoted its business strategy
0:43 The history of Barnes & Noble
2:03 How the bookseller took a hit from digital competitors
3:00 Why the company adopted more of an independent bookstore strategy
5:18 What’s next for Barnes & Noble?
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Nothing beats going into an independent or second-hand bookstore. Amazing prices and just a much more magical feel. I'm lucky that Scotland has a fair number of them still
I’m in GA, in the US and there isn’t an independent bookstore within 12 miles from my house. 😢
Im in the US as well, and the two near me are not very good. The good independent/big chain store are long gone.🥲
I’m from Chicago and we have a huge number of amazing independent bookshops
That’s why I shop at half price books
Agreed! I live in Minneapolis and we have tons of independent bookstores. In fact, I am about a 6 minute walk from my local one that I visit often!
Being a Millennial father of 4, it's fascinating to me that my kids usually hate when we go shopping in person. To them it's a huge chore to go shopping in person, something I never would have guessed. I grew up loving going to the mall or any other store in person. However, we recently took them to Barnes & Noble. They absolutely loved going there and were mesmerized by the assortment of books, games, and toys. Based on their reaction to being there, Barnes & Noble is doing something right.
Did they show any interest in the STARBUCKS cafe inside?
@@trentpettit6336 they actually do like getting cake pops at Starbucks. 🤣
You have 4 children????????????????????? Are you MAD..... LOL
@@jamesbarry1673 somebody's gotta keep the American birth rate up! That social security has got to come from somewhere. 😁
@@sclarsen86 keep up the good work....
Lol
i like how this new CEO thinks. he thinks about the customers/readers in the area. :) I hope this business grows. I hate the old way it was running; it does not allow the customer to stay and enjoy the environment. I hope they bring tables and chairs to appreciate the ambience too.
I believe the thinking was that having chairs allows people to sit and read books without paying for them. But people who do that probably aren't going to buy books anyway, for a variety of reasons. (Like not having enough spare cash to buy _any_ books, even used ones.) It's better to have them so people who just want to read a chapter or two before deciding to buy can do so.
@@ManabiLT Putting chairs in bookstores is actually very common in Asia, in fact, this is even a main source of revenue. Many bookstores in China are book+coffee hybrids, half of the space are seating nooks scattered around bookshelves, customers can pick a book, buy some coffee and even snacks, and spend a few hours reading in a peace and quiet environment. The bookstores make lots of money from beverage, and book sales are still great because many customers end up in very good mood to buy a few books after enjoying an afternoon.
You gotta remember that books cost very differently in China than other countries. According to my wife from China, books in China are pretty darn cheap compared to other countries.
They still just order from the same giant publishers, so you're letting his smooth talking disguise the fact that it's the same BS.
why support a "nice" monopoly when you can support local stores
Interesting that they mention the romance and manga. When I sold my books to an independent bookstore locally, I asked what they were looking for and they immediately said romance and manga.
They said the same thing to Hemingway
I run a small used bookstore. Those are two types of books we don't sell. We don't want to make room for romance and many at the expense of history poetry literature and philosophy, thank you.
And we do pretty darn good.
@@beejls you're missing out on some historical manga then.
@@eegernadesnot missing out. At all
@@beejls condescending much?
I go to B&N all the time. Whether it’s them or a smaller shop, I love physically going into a store and looking through all the books. I’m happy things are starting to turn around for them. It’s been a bummer seeing them close stores.
I know right! When I lived in the US few years back I loved going to the local B&N just to hang out, browse their books, get some work done and have a coffee. And because of that I ended up buying tons of books I didn't intend to buy and discovering tons of books that turn out to be my favorites (these books won't ever get recommended by those dumb, mass-driven, online recommender systems).
It was a good experience that online stores cannot provide.
When I think of an independent bookstore, I imagine a cramped dusty shop that very few people visit. Barnes and Noble did something revolutionary in the 1990s: they made bookstores cool. The cafe, the escalators, the dark wood railings, and classical music playing overhead all made going to Barnes an experience.
Your description sounds like they made bookstores clean, but certainly not "cool."
@Dayspring I'm sure you recognized the same thing I did. That for half a century comics were laughed at and its readers considered juvenile, and only when they completely took over Hollywood did the exact same people start flocking to comic book movies in droves and considering them cool, even though the movies were often vastly more juvenile than the source material. The general populace are nothing if not malleable, mush-brained sheep.
agreed. cramped and dusty is lovely!!
Bookstores have always been cool.
@@GodLovesComics the excact Same ppl grew Up with the Comic books 🤡
It’s mind-boggling how they are still in business, considering so many buying books online
They’re always in these high rent places like malls, near theaters, and outlets too. I guess it’s the power of monopoly.
The way mall economics work is the anchor tenants get rental rates that are like 10-20% of the smaller stores inside. The idea is they draw in customers. It's the decline of malls that is the final nail in the superstore concept. It's the danger of selling.a commodity. On the other hand, if physical bookstores didn't exist, Amazon alone isn't a strong enough channel to promote new books, so my guess is we'll see some happy medium develop.
That`s exactly the point of the new strategy. You have to offer the customers something they can`t get online, like atmosphere, knowledgable booksellers and stock curated to your customer´s taste. No bookstore will ever be able to compete with Amazon on size and price.
It probably helps that they managed to survive while Border's died entirely and Books-A-Million closed a ton of locations. (260 locations today, compared to Barnes & Nobel having 614 (as of July 2020).) In a lot of places they're the only chain bookstore left.
They have starbucks and people still go. I've seen people studying and reading at the book store
It seems like a lot of physical stores are going toward providing "experience". It is impossible or extremely hard to compete with Amazon on selling commodities like books. So switch over to compete by selling things can't comodify and go away from only providing utility values. Sure Amazon can do exactly the same but then just like checking out different restaurants, people would still want to check out different book stores for different experience.
I think what Barnes and Noble has to do is create a more engaging space to hang out and discover books. Maybe they could theme the stores differently in some areas. Have an 'under the sea' themed area, maybe a 'fantasy' area in another. They could increase the cafe space to accommodate more people. Making the in-store experience as unique and engaging as possible is the one thing they could do that Amazon could never as Amazon has begun closing all their physical book stores of which there were very few to begin.
I mean the hard part Amazon just can't do is actually reading some of the book and seeing if you like it. It's kinda awkward reading the book from Amazon's book preview compared to being in that store, being able to read as much of the book as you want, then purchasing that book.
Really interesting to hear them talk about focusing more on the experience of shopping with their new strategy, because I’ve always felt that the ‘old’ Barnes and nobles were much more enjoyable to shop in. The old stores were enchanting and cozy, whereas the new stores feel a tv set, and not in a good way.
I agree. I have a B&N near me that was renovated into a smaller space and has that new look...it feels so sterile? Like a hospital turned bookstore. I hate the lowered height of the shelves, I don't feel like I can "get lost" as I enjoyed before.
So true
There are still multiple locations by me with the old layout, and yeah, I much prefer it. I hope they don't switch over to the new concept. I've always thought that their strongest suit was their ambiance and upscale feel to their stores.
I agree! The new stores shelves scream airport bookstore 🫤.
Barnes & Noble's store design has just always felt higher-end to me. Borders was akin to Macy's while Barnes & Noble was Nordstrom, if that makes sense.
I'm a 42 year old male and I hate any type of in-person shopping (malls, grocery, cars) but I love going to bookstores, exploring their selection and maybe sampling the coffee and bakery if they have one in the store.
I love the “traditional” Barnes and Noble look, it feels more warm especially with the sounds and smells of the cafe that make me want to grab a drink and book. The new look is more cold and not as comforting.
I do like the localization concept and putting promotions on books that the demographics in that area.
Depends where you live. If you are in a major city in a very busy area you might get more of the traditional look but at a smaller city, it is a bit more localized.
My new version is ugly, hard to navigate, overstuffed shelves, and dark. It is awful. I too miss the old B&N just like I miss Borders and B Dalton and Waldenbooks. Weird thing is, I often have dreams of being in a bookstore, and it is often B Dalton or Waldenbooks! I don't even know why, other than I worked at both in the 80s and 90s.
@@namenotfound8747 I would say where i live is a hybrid - more a College town/city-ish but still kind of small. Not a true city by any means. Our B&N is awful. It was always kind of inferior to the Borders we used to have, but the new B&N is an awful model (just my opinion). I like that the owner cares and is trying everything he can to save it, but I just don't like the model at all.
I don't usually like big box stores but Barnes and Noble felt like a temple to books
The great power of a physical store is if I want a book I want it now because I want to read it now.
You mean "now" as in after getting in your car, driving a distance, being stuck in traffic, finally arriving and trying to find a parking space, walking to the store, only to find out they don't have what you came to buy?
Not so great when the physical bookstore doesn’t have what you want which is what happened to me a couple of months ago. They had 1 book out of the 6 on my list. Some on my list were recent award winners.
I ended up ordering from Amazon by necessity and got what I wanted the next day. I have a list of other titles that are unlikely to be in my local BN.
Just a heads up, not all of us locals are ever going to read manga, bridgerton, chick-lit or the most popular mystery on the best seller list. I want to see things I never thought of and unfortunately, I’m never going to get that if Southwest PA determines what books I can buy.
Kindle allows the same thing, but you can do it at midnight.
@@clarkkent7973 I want that new book smell. Kindle hasn’t invented smelliterature yet.
I’ve seen this in my local store. I am not too ashamed to admit it’s worked on me. Not only are a lot of the featured tables subjects I’m interested in, but they also have handwritten recommendations on the shelves for different books and authors from the staff
Giving the stores their own say and touch on the store they run is a great idea. Makes it feel more personal in a good way and a better experience
I love going to Barnes and Noble. Really hope Amazon doesn’t kill this business.
They survived while Borders died and Books-a-Million closed a bunch of stores. I don't think Amazon's going to kill them.
"Amazon" won't kill this business - the consumers that refuse to vote with their dollars will kill it - or save it.
Your comment arrived by time machine from 2003
This comment is funny because 10 to 15 years ago analysts believed Amazon would do to Barnes and Noble what Netflix did to Blockbuster. Then Amazon pivoted and started going after Walmart
My favorite thing about Amazon is their support for independent writers. They can write a book, upload, and readers can download to their Kindle to read. It bypasses the publisher gate keepers. Hugh Howey whose books have been made into the Apple Silo series is an excellent example.
For me, the reason I stopped going to Barnes & Nobles were simple. The stores in my area got rid of their chairs, except for their cafe, which was always packed. There was nowhere to sit and actually explore any book I was considering.
Same
Yup same for me. People used to sit on the wide window sills, couches, or floor near the windows.
They crack down on that once Covid hit and I stopped going all together. It was supper uncomfortable reading the books standing up.
This coming from someone that would buy at least 1-3 graphic novel/books every time I visit.
Worked for B&N from 93-2000. Absolutely awful place to work and still have a lot of bad memories. Hopefully the new CEO prioritizes treating the staff better than the old one did. It was around 95-96 that they started to really homogenize the stores and take away control from the booksellers on displays and promotions so it sounds like at least that part is headed in the right direction.
it’s not better
@@saralovejoy4996 not surprising because retail is retail and the politics and management (and customers of course) are always awful. I worked with some managers that got caught bad mouthing me (very stupidly) publicly in the cafe and a friend of a friend was seated at the next table and heard everything. He said that they sounded like villains from a Bond movie.
I’m working there right now, and I enjoy it at least at my store the environment is pretty good to work at but the pay is not worth it. But I enjoy it and the management but it’s also a retail job
I was an Assistant Mgr in the early 90s and got away as fast as I could. Management was dreadful back then, but my team worked hard to make the store a place where customers would want to stay and linger. We had book clubs and other evening events. The most popular event was the evening children’s storytime. Incredibly wholesome, with families sitting down together and listening to a story read aloud.
We were forced to be “a bit of New York” in a community that was the complete opposite of that vibe. We fought to include L.A. ‘s Best Sellers next to NYTBS. To see B&N reverse their pious ways to embrace the communities they serve is a welcome breath of fresh air. I hope they bring back more tables and chairs in the bookstore areas; not everyone wants to sit in the cafe area. (Or support Starbucks’ union-busting ways.
Doesn't surprise me, I can think of very few retail chains where former employees have anything good to say. Retail/food service work is almost universally soul-crushing, grossly underpaid work. Don't get me wrong, I in no way intend to condone how B&N or any retailer treats their employees, it's just that it doesn't surprise me.
As a Barnes & Noble bookseller myself and having had the chance to personally meet Mr. Daunt, I can say confidently that this man knows what he's doing and as a whole the store I personally work at and one that he visited, has been doing amazing.
so what exactly is a bookseller? Are you a wholesaler or some kind of broker for rare books?
@jkkmane it's really not that complicated. A bookseller is someone who sells books. No, it's not too hard, you don't need a college diploma, but you do get to know what different kinds of customers are looking for, and can usually recommend better things than an algorithm can
I am glad that despite all the doom and gloom over a decade ago people are very much still in love with physical books
Heck, I am happy when anyone READS.
Yeah a lot of ppl of my generation do not like online books , especially with the tiktok trend of BookTok encouraging ppl to annotate and write on books 📚
Actually nvm that’s not a good thing , overconsumption is Gen Z’s greatest weakness
Nothing can beat Borders. It was magical. If you never saw it, you won't know what we lost when the chain folded. It was like a cool neighborhood bookstore sized up to big box store size.
Nothing beats the experience of a bookstore. Going in and walking around, browsing the books. Sitting down and reading a bit of a book that has sparked your interest. I get that buying online can be cheaper and more convenient sometimes, but in my opinion, nothing beats the in store experience
What a great episode, I always find it therapeutic and joyful to buy my books in a bookstore. I visit a Barnes and Noble store whenever I visit my family in the US.
The new stores are smaller, and they often don’t have a cafe. I wish they had kept the cafe. Maybe they could have made it more like a restaurant, rather than an on-the-go Starbucks.
The Barnes and Nobles I go to still has a Starbucks cafè, and it's a sit down one
They actually tried that in a few locations. I don't think it was successful, probably because of the low margins you deal with when you're serving more than coffee and sandwiches.
I was just in the Evansville Indiana b&n and it has a big Starbucks, tons of seating, an elevator and escalators to an open balcony second floor that wraps around the walls, with big sections for books popular on social media, model building kits, manga, Japanese AND Chinese light novels, and all the normal sections like kids, music/movies, fantasy, romance, mystery, journals and supplies, etc. It's a beautiful and full bookstore experience, with tables not just at the cafe. There are lots of those big 6 seater tables near windows as well. It felt like a happy, warm library with coffee and toys and a lovely hubbub of ppl
@@KaterinaDeAnnika OMG That sounds amazing. As a programmer who can code from anywhere, I would go there everyday if I lived in that city. I used to do that when I studied in the US--I visited the local B&N everyday and ended up buying lots of books from them. I'd imagine if B&N targeted college students like Starbucks do, they can get a lot of customers.
I loved bookstores! Big fan of Borders and was so sad when they went all went out.
So was I
That was a huge loss.
Amazon already killed Borders years ago. Now Borders in next…
Losing Borders was tragic😢
Me too.😢
Couldn't believe that the Barens & Noble mentioned at the beginning of the video is the one I visit from time to time😂
I hate shopping in general but always enjoy browsing book stores. I’m glad they are still around despite the rise of online book sales and e-books. I tried reading e-books on a kindle paper-white years ago but it’s just not the same. I will occasionally order a book series online if I can get a good deal on a set that I know I like, but I generally try out new books by buying them from a physical bookstore.
I've been fortunate to still be able to visit the same B&N location since the early 1990s. I used to go there to study while in college, lose myself for an hour or two reading magazines and chill at the coffee shop area, I bought my first e-reader there (Nook Color, which I absolutely love, but now I have a Kindle Paperwhite), I introduced my son to B&N since he was a toddler and he still loves going there. Thank you B&N for being my "Tiffany's".
That’s great. I don’t like to get overwhelmed by a store. And a place to sit and read through a couple pages should be a standard for every bookstore
It's gratifying to know how many things are being done now that I thought should have been done when I worked there 5 years ago.
I would disagree regarding them trying to eliminate the "cookie cutter" look. The newest Barnes that I've been too looks like a carbon copy of the one shown in the video. I feel very nostalgic about the old Barnes and Noble. It was a place you could literally get lost in for hours. It was more cozy and inviting. I feel like they're going for a super clean look with their new stores and it feels cold when you go in there. Im sad about them getting rid of the big majestic stores :(
Idk if it’s just me, but I personally don’t love shopping online compared to going in person (and this is coming from someone with mild social anxiety lol) i love going to my local bookstores and barnes and noble. all are amazing experiences
I want physical bookstores to thrive, a place where you can feel a book in your hands is important. Seeing different editions of the same book and feeling them, flipping through the pages of them, it really helps you decide what book you want. Loving a genre of book and exploring the entire shelf and finding interesting reads of the same genre, talking to staff who read and have good recommendations. Physical bookstores is the best way to buy books.
really interesting video. My mom and I have consistently been going to B&N to shop and hang out for many many years, so I've seen our local store change over time. The best change for me was definitely the increase of the manga section, but I miss the big chairs that used to be around (luckily the cafe still has seating). Now that I'm at college I miss going there with her and my friends, will hopefully do plenty of it again over summer break :)
Now, can we just get B&N to do special editions on par with those beautiful Waterstones' ones? Their stenciled edges speak to my soul.
seriously! I’ve been seeing those waterstones editions lately and I wish some booksellers would do that here.
I’m glad they’re thriving. Don’t want to see Barnes and Noble go out of business just like block buster did.
This is my childhood memory. I always liked the Marvel Comics Graphic Novel section but I find my local used bookstores to sell them at a huge fraction of their prices and they also have the $1 book section which I like
I remember five years back book stores were absolutely dead. Ive been back and its absolutely booming. In Canada we dont have barnes & noble but our book store chain is set up extremely similar to it. The manga and YA section was absolutely packed. I usually dont shop around but book stores are always a fun experience for me ❤
Indigo and Barnes & Noble are basically identical. The only difference is the signage.
I wish B&N would carry more niche independent publishers that currently do all of their sales through Amazon, and possibly start doing some independent printing to compete. Lots of cool stories are being missed by readers because you have to go searching for them, and I'm sure those authors and publishers would love to have more than one option for distribution.
I won't buy from Amazon.
A four-foot section at the front of the store for local authors would be nice.
The only thing I dislike about the new model is that there are very few places to sit or relax in the new stores . I used to like to go and let the kids pick out stuff to buy while I’d thumb through a few books first chapters to see if anything caught…the newer stores also feel weirdly claustrophobic with the maze like areas and no windows.
oh Thank You Jesus - that old model encouraged the customers to treat the store like a library - Come and read, leave a mess and barely if ever buy anything.
@@Elena-er7zp I definitely saw a lot of people like that there and I was probably one of them a time or two ..especially when the missus was out shopping for other things. They did this here to the one in Rockville MD and the new one is too tiny and claustrophobic with few windows so I just use Amazon now if I need an oil right away or the local library (which is also pretty nice)
The Pikesville store is actually my local store. Although I really do miss the "Supermarket" style of it and the other one I liked the visit in White Marsh. If anything the massive selection was a check against Amazon.
Ultimately, people don't care about selection. 20% of titles drive 80-90% of sales. You might as well focus on that 20%.
Amazon can take the niche segments. Their scale and lack of overhead makes it economically feasible.
I’m just happy we still have the store in our area. I do miss the cafe, wish I would have taken better advantage of it while it was there.
I did like the old building because it had a dvd and cd section
Our BN does 50% hardcover books of any genre in January and the place goes wild with people everywhere in all sections. Would love to see a 2 for 3 deal like with BAM.
Wow that’s an incredible sale
What's BAM?
@@mirzaahmed6589 Books-A-Million (BAM!), a big box competitor of Barnes & Noble
i always thought that a good pivot for the big stores is to amplify what people use most of the space for - HANGING OUT. their cafes usually do well but the seating fills up with just browsers and kids studying. so if that's the demand, charge for it! start renting out the seats. you get an hour free if you buy something at the cafe but if you just want a place to sit and do your own thing, a seat is like $5 an hour. gonna have to place little lights signifying OCCUPIED/FREE but that might be a viable revenue generator. oh and sell wifi access. lots of locations work like internet cafes anyway. lean into that.
LOL. It was bad enough when they had sofas and people would take off their shoes and stretch out on them as if they were at home. No thanks. I don't want to shop where a bunch of people are "just hanging out".
Note to Barnes & Noble: People that live in the cities read books, too. My family loved the BN that used to be in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. Any chance we get one of those scaled down versions?
Isn't it cancel culture or woke books very popular in Baltimore?
Independent bookstores fill that gap in cities
@@drewh3224 money is money, who cares if it correct
there's only 2 independent book stores in my area and 1 barnes and noble. I seriously hope all 3 stay open
Another issue concerning digital was that you had to have a nook to read the digital books they sold. This tried to make B & N a tech company versus a book company. Bringing with it all the problems of both companies. They would have done much better if they had just focused on selling digital books in a standard format due to their size and ability to negotiate prices.
it was all ego
Many buildings for large companies, like Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and shopping malls, were designed specifically for the use of those businesses. So it's frustrating to now see B&N taking up smaller real estate because they have the cash, meanwhile, what are towns going to do with the defuncted retail space that local entrepreneurs can't afford?
I think either turning them into a multi-plex of small businesses, entertainment centers with free and affordable things to do, or simply housing are some starter ideas for any mayors reading this.
At the end of the day - we don't need more B&N's to have physical books - we need towns and cities to prioritize local bookstores that see profits directly going back into the community and not a multi-national corporation.
*proceeds to buy things from amazon*
My kids and I love going to Barnes and Noble. The chance to hold and flip the pages of the book feels great. Hope these new stores come to Houston
I remember going to the huge B&N on 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica as a teenager, which if I remember correctly, was 3 floors! I loved going and spending the whole day there. I would go in, get a bunch of books, find a chair, sit and read. Going into a brick and mortar store, being surrounded by books, and holding them in your hand was all part of the experience. The longer I was in the store, the more likely I was to buy something, and I usually bought at least one book. I miss that lovely B&N.
cant go wrong with checking out books in a book store. was always my favorite thing to do as a kid
I miss Hastings. They were common in Texas and the southwest. Pretty much the perfect entertainment store that still felt small somehow. Never has another place come close.
I completely forgot about Hastings. My family and I loved Hastings when we lived in Copperas Cove, Texas.
Nothing has replaced our Hastings and we no longer have a single bookstore in a 30 min driving radius besides Walmart :')(which has expanded their book section a little bit)
@@cha7er That sucks, I feel bad for my kids they won't get to enjoy Hastings like I did for so many years as a kid. No other stores come close.
I hope they make it, book stores are always needed!
The way the CEO sitting in front of throne of glass series, ember in the ashes, serpent and dove etc during his interview and I’m like this guy gets it
I love going to Barnes & Noble, entering the books into Good Reads, and then getting them from the library or Amazon.
I usually go to B&N, browse and find some books I like, do price comparison with Amazon before I buy. In my experience B&N does price matching, so I find that they have the exact same price as Amazon. So, as I'm already in the store, I tend to buy it there.
I wish they'd open a store again in Washington, DC. They closed all the stores in the District some years ago, but fortunately, independents took up the slack. We have excellent independents, led by Politics and Prose, but the more the merrier, so I'd love to see B&N back again.
That's DC, in middle America, there's few and far independent bookstores, mostly small used bookstores, which are great, but are not really for sitting down and perusing. B&N is pretty much the only game in town in a lot of places.
I've recently moved to DC for college and was pretty surprised to see no B&N in the District itself. It was the opposite of where I lived before, where there were multiple B&N and Half Priced books and barely, if any, noteworthy independent shops that haven't closed. But the independent stores here are fantastic!
@@aliciaz6224 Yeah, the independents are great: Politics and Prose (three locations), Solid State, Kramerbooks & Afterwards, East City Books, Loyalty Books, Busboys and Poets, Bridge Street Books, among others. There used to be at least two Barnes & Nobles -- one downtown and one in Georgetown. If you want to go one now, the closest is at Clarendon Commons, not far from the Clarendon Metro Stop. Also Tyson's Mall, and one not too far from Twinbrook Metro (I think)
Their CEO has done a heck of a job
Me and my mom go to Barnes & Noble about every week. We have went to almost all of them within a reasonable distance, and we love to see how each location is different. Going to browse through all of the sections of the store with a coffee and spending time with my mom is honestly my favorite thing to do. 😊
This was so sweet! ☺️ My sons and I love to do the same and will spend so much time shopping and drinking coffee. It’s such a fun time and one of our favorite things to do.
Daunt book is amazing! It feels local, with wide selections, but curated by countries. Really adds to a specific taste. I think that's why in UK bookstores are always crowded.
I visited my Barnes and Nobel on day and it was so difficult and I love it. What he says about the manga section is true before it was just one shelf in the back now it’s the entire center with so much new selections then before. I love the new changes
Yep. Manga has outsold other industries in the book market. The comic industry comes to mind. Where one series of manga outsold the entire comic industry. Then 5 more that did the exact same thing in that same year.
Manga 100% is carrying young readers interest.
Difficult?
I like this new direction but I still like local bookstores the most, something so fun about their unique vibe and atmosphere. My favourite one has a little section in the back with cookies and coffee and it's such a nice place to be.
Thanks for sharing. He was smart location. more induvidualized approach to each location.
Books A Million has done the same thing. I love our small BAM much more than the big giant stores. Plus it’s super popular and does well with what they have.
I had forgotten all about them Before that it was Crown books.
My dad took me to Barnes and Nobles throughout my childhood and when they had couches we’d go and read books and magazines together for hours on the weekends :) my dad really sparked my joy for being curious and reading all sorts of books
The closest BN to us closed last year and i really really miss it. I like just stepping in and looking around, sitting down and taking a peek
manifesting the b&n that closed at my local mall comes back because i miss hanging out and browsing the aisles there when i'm tired of walking around the mall 😢
I love the new interior! Reminds me of Waterstones in London. The only thing I miss is the way to sit down.
One thing that would likely help B&N... removing what I mentally call the "B&N tax" from it's prices. As is, I can basically go to Amazon for books and Target for the other paraphernalia they sell and pay roughly 1/3 of the prices they charge in their stores. Simply put, stuff they sell is much too expensive to compete.
Directly competing with Amazon was what almost killed them.
That B&N was the closest one to me after the local one closed a few years ago. I got some great deals when the large Pikesville store closed. However, the new store has little to no selection that appeals to me. I realize that everyone has different tastes, but I definitely miss the large Borders, Bibelot, and B&N. I like to browse before buying, and I generally preferred B&N (complete with first gen Nook) to Amazon, but now my only viable option is Amazon. None of the big Pikesville selections particularly appeal to me, so apparently I need to go elsewhere. If someone could point me towards one that pushes military history and sci-fi.... then I'd be in.
From elementary school up until I finished college, I spent practically every weekend at Barns and Nobel. It was an amazing place for a kid and curious college student. The internet basically replaced its purpose… don’t need a physical place for accessing information or entertainment.
I completely understand why the localized model is better. I live near a small bookstore and it’s a great shopping experience because of how the staff has tailored the store to my neighborhood. They have sticky notes on a lot of books with a quick review. I was also able to chat about sci fi books and get a recommendation. If Barnes and Noble is able to replicate that great experience, customers win here.
Pre about 2010, I used to spend a couple days each month at the local Barnes and Noble. I would pick out about 10 books, get a coffee and a muffin from the cafe and read. Every single time I would buy at least 2 of the books from my stack. Once I read them completely, I would repeat the process. About 2010, all of the comfy chairs and sofas started to disappear. So I stopped going and I just went to the library instead. If I found a book that I really liked, then I would just order it on Amazon. I am not sure if this is unique to my area or if it is all of them but it definitely killed the experience for me.
I spent a ridiculous amount of time at B&N during my college years. If I had time between class, I would walk 2 miles to the store and back afterwards. It probably tipped me in the direction of choosing my creative writing major. I appreciate the big stores, but at the same time I'm only ever going to use certain sections.
Support local bookstores and barnes and noble!!
We need curated selection, an atmosphere more people want to be a part of, and great outlets for authors from all around especially the United States!
Great content, WSJ!
Growing up in the 90s my local B&N used to host poetry slams, and all sorts of local events. We could come and drink coffee. Hang out. Sit in chairs throughout the store reading books, magazines, manga etc. Even sometimes in areas with low foot traffic on the floor. Then they got all corporate and stuffy and ended that and killed the whole vibe/escape that the place was for me. I’m glad that they’re turning things around and giving it that quaint personalized feel. Hopefully they can revitalize their brand and atmosphere to the way it was before.
I love these videos! So cool
I love the idea of localizing each store but I would kill to have more independent stores in my area
Oh my goodness i just did a project on this exact subject for my business class in uni
So glad they mention how manga helped them stay afloat. Specially during the pandemic. A bunch of people got into reading manga
I can confirm I feel immense happiness when I go to Barnes and noble and look at their manga and light novel selection.
Calling it a bookstore is a misnomer. At least half the store here in L.A. is toys, games, stationery and oh yes, a captive Starbucks. I miss the days when they were competing with Borders Books. You could get lost in there for days. And I've never understood the concept of selling books based on price. I buy a book because I'm interested in it's content not because it's cheap.
I Miss the days of pharmacies. You could pick up scripts, OTCs, first aid products, greeting cards, boxes of candies, get well balloons, etc. Now it's lawn chairs and hair dye. That's what Walmart is for.
I always loved going into Barnes and Noble. It’s been years since I’ve been to one because there isn’t one near me. The closest one is probably an hours drive from my house. My coworker who is in her early 20s has it on her bucket list to visit a Barnes and Noble.
I worked for B&N in the early 2000's and they were hiring management that didn't even read books, and the philosophy was to treat bookselling like selling any random object. It was all about how much was sold at the fastest and non-interested rate, how many yearly memberships you could sell, and not interacting intimately with the customers that would organically sell more books based on the mutual love of reading and personal recommendations . One manager told me it was like selling a can of beans to them and they didn't care about any personal knowledge of the material/authors we were selling.. Bookselling is like selling art not a can of beans and great book writing is the same not some assembly line to just grow the bottom line. The upper management at headquarters also had the trickle down elitist belief system that the company and management were better than others in the field. I also remember how they thought their e-reader was going to save them. Ha! That's why I do not feel sorry for B&N because they shot themselves in the foot with these business practices/belief systems and ended up in the same failure as the other companies and the people that worked there that they made fun of and not caring for their own customer's interests.
the thing I like about the big store is that I can find any book I'm looking for compared to a smaller bookstore.
If I stumble across a Barnes&Noble when I'm visiting a new city, I'll certainly go in. I enjoy the atmosphere. However, what it mostly accomplished in my life was introducing me to genres and authors that I learned that I enjoy consistently... and now I order those books online.
Always off to see a commercial as an actual news report. I wonder how much one of these costs.
"If you run better bookstores, you sell more books." True. This is a lesson bookstores here in the Philippines needs to learn. We have a National Bookstore here but they are selling few books. They are more selling office and school supplies. Better rebrand their name to National Supplies.
Saw this happen near me.. Kingston, NY. B&N had a big box anchor store, 20-30K SF. now across the road at 6-7000 SF. Def moved to maze layout. I noted a year ago to a store manager that they had very few chess and crossword books. Now there are plenty, selling like crazy.
Also: Paramus, NJ they had a HUUGE store *Rte 17 Southbound side, looked like a car dealership. NOw they're on the Northbound side, still big (15-20K SF) good mix of product and loads of events with writers, including BIG names.
nothing beats the in person shopping experience. Amazon is .......... fine. At the end of the day though, having the opportunity to put my hands on something and experience it for myself before putting money down will always be my preferred way of shopping.
I was really impressed by B&N's new center city Philadelphia location. I basically grew up in the old store at 18th & Walnut so I was ready to be disappointed by the new smaller one, but they seem to have a better selection of the stuff I like to read. Just wish they had a cafe.
Can you do one on Indigo Books & Music its one of biggest bookstore chains in Canada and they recently opened one in the US
@3:37 made me so happy. Gotta wonder if the videographer is a Critter!
Our local B&N that was always full & busy is now closed, being gutted & completely redone. I hope the concept will work.
I've bought several manga volumes from B&N. I don't know if they still run these sales, but they used to have a buy 2, get 1 free.
Most volumes sell for around $10. So you get 3 volumes for $20. Pretty good deal, imo.
I like ours is including legos and designer toys. Magazines are way overpriced. We go in for coffee, legos and occasionally a book. (To be fair I don’t read much. My wife does)
Okay well @ 1:09 I think every business needs something like this on stupid hot days
I was literally at that B&N mentioned in the beginning.
Huh, interesting! I always wondered why my friend’s book was only shown in our newly opened and local Barnes & Nobles.
1:15 the one in Union Square in NYC had four floors.
Thanks for sharing.