I don’t see how any of the major booksellers are going to make it with digital books from Amazon and the like taking over. Let’s hope they can adapt, I like to spend time in my local Barnes and Noble browsing books and magazines with after I get a hot cup of their coffee.
I agree. I know it is “old fashioned” to want to go to a book store like Barnes and Noble, but I still very much enjoy the experience. I was actually saddened to hear about Borders and I go there VERY rarely.
Really old-fashioned is wanting to go to a neighborhood book store where the owner behind the counter knows every book on the shelves, and every employee can suggest books based on what you've read and enjoyed. The Barnes & Borders stores did a nice job of creating a pleasant atmosphere, but it's not the same.
The big-box stores killed most of those mom-and-pop shops, who couldn't compete with their massive selection and economies of scale; the big boxes were in turn killed by online sellers who take selection and scale to another order of magnitude. The irony is that the fall of the big boxes opens the door for the independent shops to make a comeback as a place to browse and talk about books.