So, you're the new CEO of Barnes and Noble......

[RainMaker]

I still think there is room for bookstores in this country. I just think that the industry grew way too quickly and became way too large. I'd consolidate, focus on locations that can be profitable, and go from there. That might mean cities, college towns, who knows. But I'd make a nice environment for people looking to browse, looking to have book clubs, and looking to have some coffee and read a little bit.

I think one of the big problems with the major chains is they all want to expand to ridiculous levels (or did). They have to realize that they are now a niche industry and make the most of it.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Shkspr

The sole thing that will keep your business alive the longest is the ability to find books and put them in people's hands using skills more abstract than SEO. Cut any of those any further than your traffic warrants, and it will actually CAUSE a downturn in traffic. Death spiral.

Went into the store I used to work at looking for "Emerald Sea" by John Ringo. They checked the computer, didn't have it. "Yeah, if it was published before about 2005, it doesn't get shipped to us. We can order it from the website and have it delivered to you, though."

Nope. I went in to the store for instant gratification. If you're going to push me online, you're going to push me to your competition, who can get it to me in two days for free, as opposed to 7-10 days for $5.

[Comey]

Go to a coffee shop mentality. Sell the Nook with a lending capability...buck a book for 2-3 weeks or a month. Books are free while in the store. Slash overhead and hope that people will come. Going up against starbucks and amazon is difficult alone, let alone both at once. So hit them where they can't hurt you...combine forces to offer what either can't individually.

[Lathum]

I think they need to partner up with some other retail giant to get more walk in traffic, Target,Walmart, whatever...

I rarely will make a special trip to a B&N, choosing instead to buy online, but if I am already having to go to Target, for example, I would be more inclined to pick something up there.

It seems to me B&N gets a fair bit of foot traffic, but many of those people are like my father who browse books, sit in comfy chairs, enjoy the air conditioning, and rarely buy anything.

Another idea is partner with movie theater chains, not only will it generate tons of traffic from people waiting for their movie to start, but it also gives them opportunity to sell books movies were based on, etc... I know there have been movies I have seen, that after seeing it I wanted to then read the book, but got lazy and never bought it after the fact.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Went into the store I used to work at looking for "Emerald Sea" by John Ringo. They checked the computer, didn't have it. "Yeah, if it was published before about 2005, it doesn't get shipped to us. We can order it from the website and have it delivered to you, though."

Nope. I went in to the store for instant gratification. If you're going to push me online, you're going to push me to your competition, who can get it to me in two days for free, as opposed to 7-10 days for $5.

In fairness, they can't possibly compete in that area. I think they have to just push bestsellers and other popular books from the past that will sell through.

I do like Lathum's idea. Why not put the B&N brand into a Target or Wal-Mart?

[Dutch]

This strategy, although funny, didn't really work. So don't try this one.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I think they need to partner up with some other retail giant to get more walk in traffic, Target,Walmart, whatever...

I rarely will make a special trip to a B&N, choosing instead to buy online, but if I am already having to go to Target, for example, I would be more inclined to pick something up there.

I really dig this idea. I purchase most of the books I read digitally (because, honestly, I'm fucking out of shelf space)...but I still get that hankering to buy a real book pretty frequently. It feels like more of an "event" than a digital purchase. In my small town, what that translates to is always swinging by the book sections of the local Wal-Mart or pharmacy chain and seeing what they've got -- only to realize that it's just the same Top 20 Books Chicks are Reading shit it was the last time.

(Not really a criticism, because the numbers have indicated for years that women buy the vast majority of fiction. If you're a dude writing for dudes, you're going to have to work extra-hard to find an audience...or be named Clive Cussler, Neal Stephenson, or write in the Westerns ghetto.)

Back in the 80's, my favorite spot in the mall was the boutique bookstore (Waldenbooks) that was like a hyper-real Disney-crafted book experience -- fake hardwood floors, fake red oak bookshelves, lots of soothing greens and browns in the color palette, etc. I'd love to see something like that make a revival. You're not pretending to have all of the books ever printed, but you've expanded your stock from the Top 20 Hot Chick Books to maybe the Top 30 Hot Genre Books, plus some carefully selected "classics" in each category -- so you've always got things like Ender's Game or LOTR on hand.

You put a couple of people in there to do stock/customer service, but let Wal-Mart, Target or whoever handle the actual retail piece.

That sort of thing would easily double the time I spend in a place like Wal-Mart, and would make going to pick up some laundry detergent and cat food feel more like a destination outing than a chore.

Not sure you can build an entire business strategy around my preferences, though.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Transition to more of a coffee shop, new media hangout instead of a straight-up bookstore? Smaller stores that drives traffic to your online store for e-books? Exclusive paper books available 1 month before the e-book availability date? Extremely low prices that will undercut e-books?

This ....

Continue to create the nook, allow people free access to books as a 'library system' when using your local coffee shop wifi - that'll encourage people to visit them and ensure a loyalty from your customer base because they'll naturally experiment and start reading items there (and if they don't purchase and read the entire thing there then you'll gain on coffee/food sales anyway).

[sachmo71]

sell inventory and rights to Nook to Amazon, cash out.

[Autumn]

Get some frigging customer service. I just tried to refund something through their Web site last night and it was a nightmare. I would be loathe to bother buying anything through their site after that when I know it's a million times easier through Amazon.

[path12]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I'm not in the retail business so someone correct me if I'm wrong. How many buyers are there out there for box store sized stores? Are there many expanding into that marketplace right now? The reduce stores and reduce store size suggestions have to be brutally expensive, right? And they expanded in the 90s so these were more desirable locations back then but now are more "established" but not the trendy hot new areas you want to be.

SI

This seems to me to be the biggest problem. Depending on the lease language they are just owning way too much square footage for what they are generating.

I'm sure most is leased which mitigates it some so it's not as dire as say K-Mart & Sears had to face when the commercial RE market tanked but still their return per SF has to be abysmal.

Don't know if the coffeeshop idea is that practical either. I sure remember a lot of Border's stores with full coffeeshops inside them.....

Brick and mortar retail has a LOT to figure out over this next decade or two.

[rowech]

Sue Apple?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by path12

Brick and mortar retail has a LOT to figure out over this next decade or two.

I suspect the biggest part of what b&m has to figure out is how to unload real estate/commitments and which way of disposing of inventory will generate the most revenue.

If book stores want to see their future, they need look no further than "record shops".

[QuikSand]

I honestly am unsure whether this is just a derivative of ideas posted here, or stuff I ruminated on my own... but I think the most intriguing idea is basically get in bed with Google.

If you could work with the existing huge footprint of B&N, and try to harness some of the Google brand cache, you could theoretically end up with some decent fraction of the excitement you (inexplicably, to most of us) see at Apple stores.

Keep the coffee. Expand the non-book, non-literary offerings. Maybe you do host the book/wine club meetings. Maybe you make these centers into LAN hotspots for multi-player gaming or whatnot. Maybe you offer an on-site music subscription service - some sort of modern on-site jukebox. Maybe you not only sell board games and card games, but you offer space for local players or tournaments or legobuilders or whatever.

Maybe you effectively rent out slots (plug-in, etc) to tech people and create a micro-incubator, of sorts. Maybe you even offer incubator-type services (central phone answering, office address, etc) for people locating their business there. Keep some retail, but with the full-size box space B&N occupies now, you could theoretically do a while mix of these things in various subspaces throughout.

I have no idea how you end up paying the rent long term, but the idea of creating an entirely new "hive" of various trendy activities in one space seems like it's a hail mary with more of a shot than many of the other ideas we have half-laughingly tossed around.


For me personally, the idea of a place where I (as a well-to-do, fairly tech-friendly, adult) could go and honestly spend two to four hours could be fairly intriguing. I drop in, buy a cup of coffee and a smoothie, maybe a sandwich or a snack, I pay something to get a "sneak preview" of a game of music or something, I plug into a high-performance network and do some communications/work on my own device, I play in a sealed deck CCG tournament where I just bought the cards on site, and then I still come home with more money in my pocket than if I had spent the same four hours in a bar.

Longshot. Interesting to think about, though.

[cuervo72]

So, a Dave & Buster's for classy folk.

[King of New York]

Pare down to nothing but college bookstores, where you still have a semi-captive (albeit shrinking) market of textbook buyers, and where you can make good money selling sweathshirts, t-shirts, and trinkets with school logos. As far as I can tell, that's about the only niche where B&N is still strong.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I honestly am unsure whether this is just a derivative of ideas posted here, or stuff I ruminated on my own... but I think the most intriguing idea is basically get in bed with Google.

If you could work with the existing huge footprint of B&N, and try to harness some of the Google brand cache, you could theoretically end up with some decent fraction of the excitement you (inexplicably, to most of us) see at Apple stores.

Keep the coffee. Expand the non-book, non-literary offerings. Maybe you do host the book/wine club meetings. Maybe you make these centers into LAN hotspots for multi-player gaming or whatnot. Maybe you offer an on-site music subscription service - some sort of modern on-site jukebox. Maybe you not only sell board games and card games, but you offer space for local players or tournaments or legobuilders or whatever.

Maybe you effectively rent out slots (plug-in, etc) to tech people and create a micro-incubator, of sorts. Maybe you even offer incubator-type services (central phone answering, office address, etc) for people locating their business there. Keep some retail, but with the full-size box space B&N occupies now, you could theoretically do a while mix of these things in various subspaces throughout.

I have no idea how you end up paying the rent long term, but the idea of creating an entirely new "hive" of various trendy activities in one space seems like it's a hail mary with more of a shot than many of the other ideas we have half-laughingly tossed around.


For me personally, the idea of a place where I (as a well-to-do, fairly tech-friendly, adult) could go and honestly spend two to four hours could be fairly intriguing. I drop in, buy a cup of coffee and a smoothie, maybe a sandwich or a snack, I pay something to get a "sneak preview" of a game of music or something, I plug into a high-performance network and do some communications/work on my own device, I play in a sealed deck CCG tournament where I just bought the cards on site, and then I still come home with more money in my pocket than if I had spent the same four hours in a bar.

Longshot. Interesting to think about, though.

I kindof get why Barnes & Noble would do that. But why would Google or anyone else? If you're Google- why get into B&M? Even if it's free (which would kill any bottom line Barnes & Noble would hope for)?

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I suspect the biggest part of what b&m has to figure out is how to unload real estate/commitments and which way of disposing of inventory will generate the most revenue.

If book stores want to see their future, they need look no further than "record shops".

This is something I've been wondering about for a while now. We're due for a giant rollback of commercial real estate from the boom of the 90s, right? Most of the box stores were built on infinite expansion, which is silly. And when those anchor stores start going bust, the rest of the center drops significantly.

Yes, we will still have grocery stores as a serviceable food delivery model hasn't caught on in anywhere but the densest of population centers. A lot of clothing requires you to try before you buy. But what about other stores? The construction boom fueled, well, construction stores like Home Depot and Lowe's. Electronics, Books, other Media, and Toy Stores have all expanded and contracted with one or two major names left and the rest fighting increasing competition from the discount sector (WalMart, Target) or online retailers. To a point, maybe there is a base level that will now have to function for show rooms but what other purpose do they serve?

Are we due for a large scaling back of corporate real estate and another round of blight?

SI

[path12]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I suspect the biggest part of what b&m has to figure out is how to unload real estate/commitments and which way of disposing of inventory will generate the most revenue.

If book stores want to see their future, they need look no further than "record shops".

Exactly. And then what happens to all that vacated real estate?

Don't get me wrong, there will always be a certain demand for brick and mortar. But let's take the mid-tier Department Store since that is mainly the sector I deal with.

The Forever 21's and H&M's and Zumiez of the world are where the kids are that Kohls and Sears and JCP want, but they have no interest in going there. JCP tried (really poorly IMO) and got killed. Those mid-tier stores are dinosaurs and have no idea how to prevent their eventual doom over the next twenty years or so. There are going to be tons of empty storefronts.

Hell, even Nordstrom is doing everything they can to try and capture the younger shopper and pouring huge resources into direct, and they are probably one of the healthiest brick & mortars around.

Fascinating yet scary to watch. My best guess is that local/specialty chains are going to rise up to take the place of the huge nationals -- they can focus better on a specific customer experience for a specific region.

That doesn't solve the commercial real estate problem though.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Are we due for a large scaling back of corporate real estate and another round of blight?

I believe so. I look around my exurban area, there's vacant space all over town ... and a brand new supermega shopping center being built simultaneously, on previously undeveloped space.

The new one actually makes sense, it's sitting right alongside the fastest traffic growth in the area (a new stretch of highway that seems likely to cause a significant change in traffic patterns) & it was actually underserved with retail in the immediate vicinity even without the new road.

The problem is that the vacancies are both in less desirable areas and making their areas less desirable.

It seems a lot of the latest busts are the recent booms, which were heavily built out. That space is going to be less & less attractive over time, and yeah, I figure it's going to be sitting there.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by path12

The Forever 21's and H&M's and Zumiez of the world are where the kids are that Kohls and Sears and JCP want, but they have no interest in going there. JCP tried (really poorly IMO) and got killed. Those mid-tier stores are dinosaurs and have no idea how to prevent their eventual doom over the next twenty years or so. There are going to be tons of empty storefronts.

Interesting, largely because (anecdotally) I can't think of any clothing retail here that's more consistently busy here than Kohl's.

[path12]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Interesting, largely because (anecdotally) I can't think of any clothing retail here that's more consistently busy here than Kohl's.

Kohl's can move a ton of product but they own a lot of real estate and their demo shopper is getting older, not younger.

They are doing better than most and I'll do anything it takes to keep them happy, but the writing is on the wall for that entire sector.

Margins continue to erode because they have trained their customer to wait for big sale/clearance. You can prop that up with increased private label/increased demand on suppliers for margin support but that also brings more risk in the first case and there is only so much blood to be wrung out of that turnip in the second.

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Went into the store I used to work at looking for "Emerald Sea" by John Ringo. They checked the computer, didn't have it. "Yeah, if it was published before about 2005, it doesn't get shipped to us. We can order it from the website and have it delivered to you, though."

Nope. I went in to the store for instant gratification. If you're going to push me online, you're going to push me to your competition, who can get it to me in two days for free, as opposed to 7-10 days for $5.

yep. its mind-boggling how many books a THREE STORY bookstore doesnt carry. what is on all those shelves??

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by path12

Kohl's can move a ton of product but they own a lot of real estate and their demo shopper is getting older, not younger.

They are doing better than most and I'll do anything it takes to keep them happy, but the writing is on the wall for that entire sector.

Margins continue to erode because they have trained their customer to wait for big sale/clearance. You can prop that up with increased private label/increased demand on suppliers for margin support but that also brings more risk in the first case and there is only so much blood to be wrung out of that turnip in the second.

If they own the real estate they're actually in a better place than most. Look at what happened with Dillard's. Similarly, they owned a lot of the real estate under their stores. They spun it off into a REIT in order to monetize it in order to increase cash flow. Then it's all about what you do with that cash flow of course.

[CU Tiger]

I've never been much of a"reader"...as I generally find fiction (in any form print, tv, movie) to be a waste of time on pretend. However I have been an avid consumer of self help/business type books through tape ->cd->podcast/mp3...so I've never spent more than an instant on this thought prior to reading this thread tonight...

However, whileim sure this is obvious to everyone and old news to everyone but me, it just occurred to me the full effect of e convergence. In 100 years there will be virtually no classic old books. No physical media of any kind. How will people collect antique books/music/toys....

Or is the e convergence a fad...will people soon wax nostalgic for hard copies and result in a resurgence on b&m retailers who are trendy and old school like steam punk for books.

Honestly, to answe the original question....I don't take the job. It's a no win short term propsition and will be a career dead end.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Logan

I don't read anywhere near as much as I'd like to anymore, but I'd say that I like to browse for books at a bookstore, not buy them. I work a block away from a large B&N (46th and Madison for NYC people) and I like to duck in there after grabbing lunch and look around for a few minutes. If I see something I like, I'm pulling up Amazon on my phone and buying it significantly cheaper there in much less time than it would take me to go to the register. I'll have it in two days, even if I'm not paying for expedited shipping, which is probably before I'd start reading it anyway.

And within a year or so, if I were to do this early enough in the day, with how Amazon is moving, it might be waiting for me when I get home.

You have to do things REALLY WELL to justify paying so much more money for items. And is a book something that would ever meet that description for people? I doubt it.

This is how I am. It's amazing how much cheaper books tend to be on Amazon (I understand "why," but still.) Barnes and Nobles offers the experience of browsing books that Amazon just can't offer, and I do pick up new books I won't come across on Amazon just through browsing, but it won't convert into a purchase-I'll check out and usually order on Amazon.