Posted on 01/07/2012 6:22:34 AM PST by Kaslin
Retail sales are up but profits are down as noted in Profit Warnings at Target, Kohl’s, J. C. Penney, American Eagle
However, shrinking profits are one thing, huge losses another.
On Thursday, Barnes & Noble increased its projected loss per share for the current fiscal year to between $1.10 and $1.40, from the 30 cents to 70 cents it reaffirmed one month ago.
I have commented before that brick-and-mortar book stores are in serious trouble. It's time to move Barnes & Noble to the top of the list.
The Wall Street Journal reports Barnes & Noble Seeks Next Chapter
The nation's largest bookstore chain warned Thursday it would lose twice as much money this fiscal year as it previously expected, and said it is weighing splitting off its growing Nook digital-book business from its aging bookstores.
Ironically, Barnes & Noble had been one of the first to recognize the potential of digital books. In 1998, it invested in NuvoMedia Inc., maker of the Rocket eBook reader, and the bookseller actively supported digital-book sales. But in 2003, it exited the still-nascent business, saying there wasn't any profit in it.
It wasn't until 2009 that Barnes & Noble re-entered the business, introducing its Nook e-reader. By then, Amazon had been selling its Kindle device for about two years, and was offering best sellers for $9.99, a fraction of what hardcover best sellers are priced at.
Apple introduced its iPad tablet in January 2010. Amazon responded with its competing Kindle Fire tablet this past September, and in November, Barnes & Noble introduced its Nook Tablet.
To promote the Nook, the retailer returned to national TV advertising in 2010, after a 14-year hiatus, buying spots on popular programs such as "American Idol."
The heavy Nook investment has squeezed Barnes & Noble's bottom line.
Barnes & Noble said in a statement on Thursday it was "in discussions with strategic partners including publishers, retailers and technology companies in international markets." It said that could lead to expanding the Nook business overseas.
What's the "Next Chapter"?
The Journal reports Barnes & Noble is also considering a plan to spin off its Nook business. If it does, can it make a profit selling books the old-fashioned way? If it doesn't, does if have the resources to compete against Amazon and Apple?
Either way, the "Next Chapter" for Barnes & Noble just might be bankruptcy court. It took me a second to catch the play on words in the WSJ article because the first thought I had was "Chapter 7" and a word was missing.
Bear in mind, even if that happens, it can take years to play out. GM was terminally ill for a decade before it succumbed to the inevitable.
Kohl’s is just making less than they expected. They are still doing very well, but now their corporate people are looking to suck on the gov’t teat when they build their new headquarters building. They are looking for $40-100 million in subsidies.
I see that. Once, the college bookstore didn’t stock a biology text but I was able to use my mother’s who had taken that class 30 years before. Same book except the picture quality had improved. Can’t do that now days.
i had just one book store in my town, not a big one, they rarely had the books I wanted but were fully stocked up on everything from Obama comic books to the NYT bestsellers.
They closed shop last year, last month I bought two Kindle Touch readers and I have over 100 books in the Cloud server, most being free independent and new authors.
And in retaliation the bestsellers in e-book editions are being jacked up ABOVE what a new hardcover is, so I refuse to buy them even if they are my favorite authors.
The times are changing.
I’m not surprised Kohl’s earning are down. I used to love shopping there. Yet over the holidays, even with Kohl’s cash and 30% off coupons, I walked out feeling like I had been soaked. I don’t know what happened to their pricing.....
I have a one bedroom apartment with 5 bookcases in it. I need to buy another bookcase soon. I will never, never give up the pleasure of a real book for some electronic gadget. I have already given my kids instructions for the disposal of my books when I bite the big one. They will find a new home where they will be appreciated and loved. (the books, not the kids - LOL).
“Find a technological way to turn their stores into e-versions of what they were up to this point.”
I think you’re on the right path. Even if the retail business evolves into primarily e-purchases there has to be retail distrubution centers to ship from. Also, there are many folks (tire kickers) who will want to touch and feel prior to making a purchse, especially big ticket items. So, it seems to me that there may be a melding of disty’s and big box retail outlets. Maybe there will be less floor space devoted to displaying merchandise and perhaps these facilities will have less visual amenities. Don’t know, just speculating...
“I agree with you. I have a 2nd generation 3g kindle, plus the Kindle iphone and ipad apps — but the Kindle itself makes it easier to read a book straight through. It’s just too tempting on the iphone to stop reading and check FR!”
I have a Nook Color, and I go between what I am reading, the web, and Angry Birds.
Except for 10^7 tons of perfectly good used and new books.
They probably wish I didn’t have prime :) I literally did ALL my Christmas shopping using Prime (and I have a lot of people on my list...probably around 30.) So they lost money on the shipping just for the Christmas shopping.
But I use them almost every week, sometimes a few times a week. I have MS, and getting to the store is sometimes a hassle, so I use them instead of making a trip to Walgreens, the health food store for vitamins, the pet store for pet supplies, the book store, or the office supply store, etc. They have become my “replacement” store...if only they sold groceries, I’d be in heaven.
Plus the streaming video is fun...I’ve found some old TV series from the 80’s and have enjoyed watching them. I think the $79 is a bargain.
The trouble is, all the electronic reading devices like Kindle and Nook require electricity and (at least initially) a WiFi connection. I see this as a problem.
On the other hand, if we have a SHTF event, dragging my thousands of hardcover books around with me is going to be a big problem, too.
Just not comfortable with the idea that the received wisdom of 2500 years of Western Civilization might slip away from us. There are untold riches of cultural experience, our whole intellectual foundation, that are found only in printed books.
I hate to tell you this... but, e-readers are not going ANYWHERE... but, books might me.
I was a slow adopter.... I share many of the same feelings you have. But, I've come to love me Kindle.
One reason is... I can INCREASE the font size if I want.. no need (or, less need) for reading glasses. :-)
But, the main reason is.. I can have ALL of my books with me.. ALL of the time. I travel alot. That kindle slides into my computer bag easily... War & Peace is a BIT heavier.
I do miss my books... but, I'm NEVER going back.
All during the holidays, Kohl's was PACKED... and, people weren' just looking.. they were BUYING tons of stuff...
But then.. here on the east side of Louisville, people are still building houses... So, we're not really representative.
Another thing, you can purchase books for eReaders just about anywhere online where books are sold. I just downloaded an eBook from Barnes & Noble for my Kindle.
Yes, I know, Kindle uses the “AZW” file format (or the MOBI format), and B&N’s books come in the ePub format. Well, there’s an answer to that. This particular book was a $1.00 book. I added it to Calibre and Calibre converted it to the MOBI format. Now I can put it on my Kindle. But what if it had DRM protection? There are applications available online (for a $) that will strip the DRM. So, I can buy any ePub book I want and, with very little effort, read it on my Kindle. All I have to do is strip the DRM before I convert it in Calibre.
One may ask, won’t B&N be upset with me? I don’t see why. They made the sale. What difference does it make to them what reader I read it on? They even provide a free PC-based reader to read their eBooks.
I’m not going back either, except for those books I consider investments. This is so much easier to carry, so much information to be had in one little unit, It’s a no brainer.
I think they are already halfway there.
If you do a search on some of the more popular older books, you’ll get a return of many print-on-demand books.
That means they’ve digitized those older books and are ready to print.
Why they don’t create a pay site and make those books available for online reading or download is beyond me.
I don’t understand why e-books are more expensive than paperbacks. There are no printing costs, distribution costs, no overhead, no retailing costs, etc, etc, etc.
If you wanted to see more e-book business, then e-books should be priced a few bucks below that of a paperback.
But for the most part, e-books are slightly more than a paperback in price (well, as of last year they were). Plus, you can’t give it to a friend as a gift or resell it to a used-book store.
So I don’t see the point of buying an e-book.
(now, bittorrenting ‘em... on the other hand)
“I like real books better.”
Great minds think alike!
Real books
Battery’s mever run out
You never have to worry about the drive crashing
They never become obsolete.
But then I’m a Luddite.
I don’t understand why e-books are more expensive than paperbacks. There are no printing costs, distribution costs, no overhead, no retailing costs, etc, etc, etc.
Because people will pay it.
The most expensive eBooks I’ve found are around $14.99, with many selling at $12.99 or so. But those are new books which, when compared to hard cover prices, are quite reasonable (they aren’t yet available in paperback).
If you compare prices of books in paperback, eBook prices are favorable. I just downloaded one from B&N for $1.00. I’ve bought others for $0.99. They’re all over the Net for prices like that.
Plus, there are all sorts of sites online with free eBooks. I have close to 200 books on my computer, the vast majority of which were downloaded for free. I’ve also found books in text format online that I’ve copied into Word, saved as HTML, then converted in Calibre into an eReader format (ePub, MOBI or AZW). The possibilities are endless.
First Borders, then Barnes & Noble?
Maybe Amazon.com needs to have a brick-and-mortar presence as well as an online presence.
I like real books better too. They work anywhere. They never need new software. They can’t be retroactively re-edited or censored.
I was in a Barnes & Noble the other weekend and thumbed through “Fiddler’s Fakebook” and also saw “The Daily Ukelele” nearby on the shelf. Available on Kindle or Nook? Doubtful. Music books would never work well on an e-reader; they HAVE to be hard copy.
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