Posted on 02/20/2018 4:39:46 AM PST by foreverfree
"In a round of company-wide layoffs, Barnes & Noble (BKS) has cut lead cashiers, digital leads and other experienced workers. Workers discovered the news when they showed up to work on Monday only to learn they no longer had jobs, CNBC reports."
ff
Barnes and Noble put all the small local places to death and now as Amazon is doing it to them. Shame, I always love browsing books in a real bookstore.
Kindle
Isn’t it wonderful being bitten in the a$$ by there own stupidity.Preventing the sale of conservative books by either not carrying them or hiding them so the public can’t purchase them.I guess that worked for their bottom line.
I like the magazine selection at my local B&N so I do shop there pretty often.
This past Christmas they had a display table of selected books. The table had a sign: “American Stores”. On the table were:
Biography of Barack Obama
Biography of Michelle Obama
A book about the all-black musical “Hamilton!”
Another book about the all-black musical “Hamilton!”
A Guide to fantastic creatures from Harry Potter
I’m thinking that the last book was added by someone with a sense of humor.
There is no question that some American stories are black stories. Nothing wrong with that. But when the world believes that 100% of all worthwhile American Stories are just about black people, then something is very wrong. That’s the sort of business decision that might need to declining sales and eventual layoffs.
The publishers don't have to print, bind, or ship a book, and yet the price is the same as a hardcover, maybe a dollar less. B&N could have given a shot at opening up that market. But Apple, amd Amazon, and B&N probably colluded to keep prices high.
Half Price Books is doing well, with author events and community events.
I think their cheaper prices helps.
Playing of nostalgia is another.
Selling games and memorabilia to supplement the books works better for them than Barnes and Noble because they have some used cheaper inventory along with new stuff.
I like both. I’m not a fan of e-readers. There isn’t anything like having the book right there.
exactly. Must have close to 500 books in my kindle.
You’re right about the big 5 publishers colluding to keep e-book prices high, and Apple was caught up in that I believe, as there was a lawsuit a few years ago about that. But Amazon encourages low prices on e-books.
In fact, they only give their best royalties to e-books that are priced between 2.99 and 9.99. Independent writers, like myself, therefore sell our e-books far lower than the big publishers do.
Barnes and Noble problem was simply it cost a lot of money to keep retail brick and mortar stores open and if they don’t have the book you want, it can take weeks to get in. If you go to Amazon, though, they only have to pay for warehouse space so their prices are about a third less on paperbacks alone. And they can get you any physical book in two days for free if you are a Prime customer.
I prefer actual paper books, but there’s much to be said for being able to carry the content of a pickup load of books in one’s jacket pocket.
Going the Circuit City route of getting rid of the best employees? The CEO needs to get in his car and drive around until he finds a Circuit City so he can go in and ask how that strategy works.
Not me. Browsing a bookstore was usually a frustrating experience. Poor selection, usually focusing on NYT best seller lists. Annoying children being disruptive. Intrusive clerks always walking up and asking to help you (which is actually a way for them to get you to buy something and get you out the door).
The only benefit of mall bookstores was that I had a place to go to when the wife was shopping.
Amazon built a better mousetrap using the concept of the long tail. Now millions of titles were available instead of just the lowest common denominator (best sellers) titles.
I agree. I love books. But Free beats expensive. When I go to church, my hands are free although I’m carrying two Bibles, two commentaries, Strongs, and a couple of other useful resources, all in my coat pocket. And if I have some downtime, a couple of games, some first person World War I history, and some light reading.
The small bookstores, like B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, always made more sense, and had better sales per square foot, than the big box entertainment destination concept.
I wonder how a CONSERVATIVE B&N type store would fare in today’s market?
You know what the problem with that is for me, though: Finding what I want. Looking for something to read on a website, like Amazon’s or B&N’s, is a pain in the patootie for me. I used to love walking in to a Waldenbooks. The new stuff was in a display or faced out on the shelves.
Folks don’t actually own e-books, do they? Or is ownership an issue only if you lease from B&N and/or Amazon?
And for the visually impaired, e-readers are a godsend.
I have a Calibre library with 12,000 books that I own
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.