Will Barnes & Noble still be here in 10 years time?

I used to love shopping in brick and mortar bookstores. Then I went to the giant B&N near me to shop for a birthday present for my sweetie. I wanted to pick him up the first few books in a sci-fi/fantasy series. Not a particular one, just wanted to browse the section and see what looked interesting. I was excited to go to the store, and then had a horrible time. The place was so badly stocked I struggled to find a present. The series idea was right out, as they stocked many copies of later books in all the series I looked at, but didn't have the first one or two.

Eventually I ended up getting him a book of short stories and a couple of magazines. I left thinking it all would have been easier if I'd just gone to Amazon in the first place. I used to like going to big bookstores, and I remember that fondly, but the stores have changed so much that it isn't fun like it used to be. Sure, if I was looking for a stuffed animal, some music, and a cappuccino, I'd be all set. I enjoyed independent bookstores when I lived in a larger city, but there have never been any where I live now.

I don't know about all the B&Ns, but if the one near me closes, they'll only have themselves to blame.

As others have suggested, it seems more likely than not that B&N will eventually go the way of Borders. I think it'll still be around after 10 years, but its viability over 20 years seems somewhat dubious.

I personally have stopped buying books from Amazon after the Hachette fiasco, but I imagine the average reader finds it much more convenient to shop online. You can find used books in pristine condition for a couple cents plus shipping. As long as books are in print, they're never out of stock (and even if they are, you can more often than not find a used one). You don't have to go to the store. They are very efficient and almost always deliver packages on time (usually a day or two early, in my experience).

Basically, if you don't give too much of a shit about literature (I don't claim to know how most consumers feel, but I can make an educated guess) there's virtually no downside to shopping at Amazon.

The good news is I think indie book stores will always be around, even if they start to become fewer and more far between. The one by me, for instance, does a hell of a lot of business, and they're kind of a staple of the community. The owner gives me his ARCs, for god's sake. Knows me and almost all of his customers by name. You won't get that at Barnes and Noble, and you certainly won't get it at Amazon.

cmi0616 said:

The good news is I think indie book stores will always be around, even if they start to become fewer and more far between. The one by me, for instance, does a hell of a lot of business, and they're kind of a staple of the community.

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Actually the good news is that indies on the whole are thriving, partly because they have put a lot of effort in serving their customers as yours does you. But also because they have set up their own online ordering systems, or piggybacked on someone else's. In the one I go to if they don't have a title they'll find it on Amazon or B&N and help you order it.

Brightdreamer said:

They just plain don't seem to be adapting well to modern reader habits. Indie bookstores may be doing better because they're more flexible and can offer local, personal service, tailoring their stock and other offerings (book clubs? author talks?) to their clientele better than a lumbering corporate dinosaur.

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This is true. BN is a huge bookstore and they can't keep up with all the people who come into the store. The best they can do is buy the most popular books out right now and put them in the stores, IMO. Indie stores can ask around and spend more time with people because they're smaller. BN should find ways to keep people interest, otherwise they may go out of business. The prices can also be outrageous and online stores can do much much better. Not only that, it's convenience. Why use gas or energy(walking) to go to a book store when you can order online. People can't spend hours in the store, they have lives. If you are like me and love smaller , more hometownish book stores, Indie stores may make you happier.

Brightdreamer said:

They just plain don't seem to be adapting well to modern reader habits. Indie bookstores may be doing better because they're more flexible and can offer local, personal service, tailoring their stock and other offerings (book clubs? author talks?) to their clientele better than a lumbering corporate dinosaur.

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This is true. BN is a huge bookstore and they can't keep up with all the people who come into the store. The best they can do is buy the most popular books out right now and put them in the stores, IMO. Indie stores can ask around and spend more time with people because they're smaller. BN should find ways to keep people interest, otherwise they may go out of business. The prices can also be outrageous and online stores can do much much better. Not only that, it's convenience. Why use gas or energy(walking) to go to a book store when you can order online. People can't spend hours in the store, they have lives. If you are like me and love smaller, more hometownish book stores, Indie stores may make you happier.

I have a life, and a part of it used to center around going to brick-and-mortar bookstores and browsing. It was a recreational activity I enjoyed once, and would still enjoy if bookstores had the kind of selection they once did on their shelves.

Rose-Writes said:

This is true. BN is a huge bookstore and they can't keep up with all the people who come into the store. The best they can do is buy the most popular books out right now and put them in the stores,

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This is what frustrates me, because when I go to a physical book store, I want to be able to visually browse and discover new (to me) books and authors. If I already know the author or title I want, I can order it online without getting my lazy butt out of my chair, and with e-books, I can start reading right away. And it drives me nuts to only find the most recent installment in a series or trilogy when I haven't read the first book or books, or to have the one I want to buy missing. Again, I have no choice but to go to an online retailer in those cases. When I discover a "new to me" writer I like, I often want to go back and read other books they've written, but they often don't have a good selection of older titles on their shelves, even for relatively popular authors.

B&N has an online option too, of course, and I used to make an effort to use them (for both paper and electronic books) instead of Amazon. But now that their Nook platform is no longer owned by them and its future is in doubt, I wonder if nook books I purchase will be supported, or even downloadable and readable, in the future.

It also makes me sad to go to a B&N and not be able to see even recent, Big-five-published novels by authors I've met here on AW or at writer's workshops on their shelves. They now ignore midlist and new writers, it seems, and that seems to widen the gap between the best known authors and those who need more exposure and availability to sell books.

I wish we had a good indy bookstore here in Sacramento, especially one that specializes in SFF, but the closest such store I know of is in SF (almost a two hour drive, even when there's no traffic jams).

I'd be a little sad if B&N closed down. While they aren't the only bookstore in my hometown, they are certainly the best, and I worked for them for a bit over a year. At least at our location it was pretty cool. We were almost always busy and when I visit back there they always have quite a lot of customers. I like the idea of indie bookstores as well, though I live in a place where we don't have a bookstore or a place to buy any sort of book besides tiny cookbooks (grocery store). I do hope they're around for another ten years at least, but if the business fails that is the way of the world.

I still shop for physical books (usually manga, art books, nonfiction books, and some graphic novels nowadays), and because my mall is about 8-10 min away, I usually tend to browse around and would sometimes buy stuff at the Barnes and Noble that is located within said mall.

However....its selection feels like it's getting smaller and smaller, and there are much less books in stock. More and more, toys, puzzles, board games, etc are taking up more space nowadays.

I mean, I do enjoy some board games/tabletop games, but I still like to read nonfiction books or manga, and the purpose of going to a bookstore is to, well, buy books.

I actually always preferred the wider selection in Book-A-Million and the variety in Used Book store and an indie comics store (Acme), but they are somewhat farther and less convenient to get to.

I think Barnes and Noble will still be around, and I still see people shop there, and I am always still shopping there to see what's new, so I think Barnes and Noble still has a future.

I just do half of my shopping online because unfortunately, my Barnes and Noble doesn't always have the volume of manga I want in stock, they rarely had sales, and I didn't have a good experience with Barnes and Noble delivering my sisters' manga, so I now usually end up buying from the sometimes more cheaper and mostly reliable Amazon Prime (or whatever online websites that have manga or art books, etc).

Our Barnes and Noble was especially terrible when it comes to stocking certain manga.

(To be fair, there are thousands of manga out there, and some series have over a dozen volumes, and some go on years...)

I would sometimes hear several customers who buy manga there complain about its lackluster selection and lack of manga volumes in stock, and my own sister would often complain about not finding a specific volume of a series, and so on.

I also like niche (or less mainstream or less accessible) stuff that is more easily found online, so I would still end up shopping online for certain things like LGBT or niche manga, etc.

It's been getting better though. It revamped and expanded its manga, graphic novels, and Teen sections quite a bit. It's ok now.

I think I would still miss it, though, if it shut down.

Unless it gets replaced by the usually more awesome Books-A-Million or a comics/manga shop. Then I personally wouldn't mind, lol.

I wonder who the interested parties might be.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...siders-selling-itself-shares-rise/1519664002/

Barnes & Noble shares rose 20 percent Thursday after the bookseller initiated a strategic review, the result of which could lead to the company's sale.

The New York-headquartered retailer said it would begin a formal review after getting "expressions of interest from multiple parties" about offering to buy the company. Among the potential buyers is company executive chairman and founder Leonard Riggio, the company said Wednesday.

A special committee of independent board members has been appointed, but there "can be no assurance that a transaction will be consummated," the company said.
Riggio, who founded Barnes & Noble in 1986 and owns about 15 percent of its stock, will support any transaction recommended by the committee, the company says. The non-profit Riggio Foundation owns another 4.3 percent of the company's shares.

Barnes & Noble (BKS) stock was up 20 percent to $6.53 in early trading Thursday.

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I also see that Amazon has opened up its own bookstores. Say Amazon buys out B/N completely and simply changes the signage to "Amazon Books" ... would all those stores suddenly sell a lot more books?

gem1122 said:

I also see that Amazon has opened up its own bookstores. Say Amazon buys out B/N completely and simply changes the signage to "Amazon Books" ... would all those stores suddenly sell a lot more books?

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AFAIK books are a loss-leader for Amazon, which is part of how they sell them at such a steep discount.

B&N's the only brick-and-mortar bookstore around here. The selection's not great, but it's not zero. I'll be sorry if it vanishes.

Our local B/N is always busy. They're the only game in town. I agree that it would be a shame if they leave.

Who knows? Seriously, some of us on this thread might not be here in ten years. I don't worry about what might happen in ten years. When people ask me where I hope to be in ten years, I say, "I hope I am still here to do what I aim to." I just go day by day because that's all we can do. Whether or not Barnes and Noble will be around, all I can say is authors better hope that they have more booksellers that can compete with Amazon in the future instead of less.