I recently walked inside my local Barnes and Noble for the first time in several years. And it simply isn’t the same as I remember it.
The shelves give off the impression that they don’t want to fill them. There are books faced out all over the place. There is space available on a good chunk of the shelves. And most titles had but one copy on the shelf, except for the BN Classics and Shakespeare.
Couple those things with their announcement to start serving alcohol in four new stores starting this year, and it isn’t so hard to believe the company’s financial troubles. Too many poor decisions are being made right now.
I suppose I could be overgeneralizing based on the one store I visited, but I imagine most BN stores are pretty similar.
Have you noticed anything different in your local store?
Johnny Reads 
I can’t remember the last time I went to a BN. There’s one in the parking lot of my favorite movie theater. There are never any cars outside it. sigh.
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Oh wow. The one by me is usually busy. It’s in a mall.
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This a large outdoor complex, with multiple parking lots in front of clusters of stores if that makes sense.
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I can – I went to the one near me regularly at first, then less and less often as they became less of a bookstore and more of a “place that also had some NYT best sellers, and a few overpriced classics”.
Sadly, in my town, the only other bookstore of note is Bookmans… and their selection is so awful, most of the books are super dusty.
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I mostly shop at half price books.
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We don’t have B & N here. Heck, we barely have a Chapters/Indigo and affiliates!
I’ve been to Chapters a few times over the last year or so and their shelves are crammed!
That could be because there isn’t much local competition or it could be because they’re directly across the street from a Canadian Tire (tools, DIY stuff and car repairs all in one place) so people can take a leisurely stroll while waiting for their car to be ready.
Whenever I do go, there are always customers both in the book store part (why do they sell not book related items like decorative pillows?) and Starshmucks have customers and there are always cars in the parking lot.
Book stores need to make a come back.
I think we only have one second hand book store as well, and we used to have three.
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Hmm. I think the Houston area probably has like 25 bookstores in the area. Maybe more. A mix of BN, HPB, and indies. Though the size of the city makes all but two or three too far for my taste.
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My area is about half a million people in just the two cities. Thankfully we have more libraries.
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Oh. We have quite a few more people in the metro area here. And tons of libraries too.
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They should stock some indie books.
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I don’t see how that would help get people in the door or make them any more money. So I think there current position will likely remain.
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http://www.bookbusinessmag.com/post/interesting-twist-bn-sell-self-published-books/
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Interesting. Although those aren’t super easy goals for the average self-published author. AND I’ve never known someone to use Nook Press. So there’s that.
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Agreed. Thought the same thing. I wonder what the average self published book sells.
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