First Borders...Now B&N? (sales, buying, school)

[MathmanMathman]

Barnes and Noble is seeing its sales collapse.

For Barnes & Noble's Nook, the beginning of the end | ZDNet

They are trying a partnership with Google, maybe B&N can become distribution centers for Google. I buy a lot of my stuff and ebooks through Amazon. Haven't bought anything from Google.

[brownhornet]

Amazon pretty much killed of the need for paper backs. The kindles and tablets are dooming them.

[Mattie]

I have a Nook. They stopped coming out with quality apps at least a year ago. I was a B&N member for years, but canceled when I realized they didn't discount Nook books, only hard copies. These days, I find almost title I'm looking for at thrift stores if I wait a few months. B&N really shot themselves in the foot. Their stores carry more toys and gift items than books these days. Regardless, I'll be sorry to see them go if it happens.

[ATLTJL]

I hate to say it, but they totally deserve it.

I was horrified when I walked into a Barnes & Noble to find that unless a book is a bestseller, they absolute refuse to discount it. You can literally find book on bn.com for 30-35% less than at Barnes & Noble. And you can often find them at Amazon for 50%.

That markup is inexcusable. Most other retailers with online presences have figured out how to match their own online pricing. Stores like Fry's even match internet prices.

If Barnes & Noble is serious about staying in business, it needs to figure out what the immediate gratification premium is on books. I am guessing it is 10-15%, meaning most people would pay 10-15% extra to buy the book they are holding over going home, ordering it online, and then waiting for it to ship.

I don't know what that premium is, but I do know this: it isn't 100%. But Barnes and Noble routinely stocks books that cost TWICE AS MUCH as you can get them for on Amazon. That's not a realistic business model, especially when people can buy the book from Amazon on their smart phones as they are looking at it at the store.

I really hope they figure this out because I do like bookstores. I like the neat gifts they carry, I like the impulse purchase books, and B&N does print some nice hardcovers themselves that only they sell. It would be a shame to lose that, but they need to get their acts together and figure out how to exist in this omnichannel retail environment.

[DawgPark]

Love going to the Cumberland B&N and hanging out, especially during cold weather months when the family needs an outing. Read a few books, kids hang in the kids section, get a hot chocolate in the cafe . . .

. . . but we NEVER buy books there. Apparently, nobody else is either because it's always packed but they usually only have one cash register going w/ no line. People treat B&N like it's a Starbuck's w/ a really big reading/browsing section.

[PeteATL41]

and they will be gone in 12 months or less...

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by DawgPark

Love going to the Cumberland B&N and hanging out, especially during cold weather months when the family needs an outing. Read a few books, kids hang in the kids section, get a hot chocolate in the cafe . . .

. . . but we NEVER buy books there. Apparently, nobody else is either because it's always packed but they usually only have one cash register going w/ no line. People treat B&N like it's a Starbuck's w/ a really big reading/browsing section.

I've gone to B&N just to browse around like that with some friends after frozen yogurt or something but we never buy anything. You go in, see some cool stuff, read a few pages maybe read a book with some coffee and then leave. It's like having a bar with people hanging out inside but not buying any drinks. Some places have cover charges for that but Barnes & Noble? That would never happen. Just like Blockbuster got killed with streaming video on demand, these bookstores just aren't gonna last.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Mattie

I have a Nook. They stopped coming out with quality apps at least a year ago.

The Nook is actually a great tablet. I got several of them for the grandkids and converted them to full Android via CM. They'll easily hold their own with tablets costing two or three times more.

[ElleKaye]

Times change. I might have been considered a full blown nerd considering the amount of time I spent in bookstores in the past. I had a discount card for all of them and believe me, the major ones all had or still have one.

Around the time that the Borders on the corner of Cumberland and 41 closed was when I started to give up on bookstores. I did however revive my old school library habit.

While I still feel there are few things more relaxing than curling up on a chair with a good book, there really is nothing wrong with the e-versions. As long as people keep writing and others keep reading, then it's all good regardless of the method.

[ElleKaye]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

Barnes and Noble is seeing its sales collapse.

For Barnes & Noble's Nook, the beginning of the end | ZDNet

They are trying a partnership with Google, maybe B&N can become distribution centers for Google. I buy a lot of my stuff and ebooks through Amazon. Haven't bought anything from Google.

Oh, I just remembered I was at the B&N next to Cumberland Mall quite a few years ago. Jimmy Carter was there signing whatever book he wrote. His daughter Amy was there as well. It's the funniest thing ever that I never read the book after standing in line forever, but I do have a signed copy.