Can Britain's Top Bookseller Save Barnes & Noble? (nytimes.com) 83
James Daunt fought Amazon and rescued the country's biggest bookstore chain. Now comes Chapter 2. From a report: Barnes & Noble has been sliding toward oblivion for years. Nearly 400 stores have closed since 1997 -- there are 627 now operating -- and $1 billion in market value has evaporated in the last five years. This week, Elliott Advisors, the private equity firm that owns Waterstones, closed its deal to buy Barnes & Noble for $683 million. James Daunt -- who in 2011 began to run Waterstones, Britain's largest bookstore chain, when it was on the verge of bankruptcy and steered it out of a death spiral -- will move to New York City this month and serve as the new chief executive. He has said little about his plans, but his playbook at Waterstones offers clues about what's coming. His guiding assumption is that the only point of a bookstore is to provide a rich experience in contrast to a quick online transaction. And for now, the experience at Barnes & Noble isn't good enough.
"Frankly, at the moment you want to love Barnes & Noble, but when you leave the store you feel mildly betrayed," Mr. Daunt said over lunch at a Japanese restaurant near his office in Piccadilly Circus. "Not massively, but mildly. It's a bit ugly -- there's piles of crap around the place. It all feels a bit unloved, the booksellers look a bit miserable, it's all a bit run down. "And every year, fewer people come in, or people come in less often. That has to turn around. Otherwise ..." The changes have filled Waterstones' 289 shops, mostly in Britain, with books that customers actually want to buy, as opposed to the ones that publishers are eager to sell. And store managers have been given plenty of leeway to transform their shops into places that feel personally curated and decidedly uncorporate.
"Frankly, at the moment you want to love Barnes & Noble, but when you leave the store you feel mildly betrayed," Mr. Daunt said over lunch at a Japanese restaurant near his office in Piccadilly Circus. "Not massively, but mildly. It's a bit ugly -- there's piles of crap around the place. It all feels a bit unloved, the booksellers look a bit miserable, it's all a bit run down. "And every year, fewer people come in, or people come in less often. That has to turn around. Otherwise ..." The changes have filled Waterstones' 289 shops, mostly in Britain, with books that customers actually want to buy, as opposed to the ones that publishers are eager to sell. And store managers have been given plenty of leeway to transform their shops into places that feel personally curated and decidedly uncorporate.
No (Score:1)
Amazon wins this round. Don't worry though, technology always comes back around. In 20-30 years the physical book store will replace Amazon because "its about the experience" and some other marketing pitch.
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People go to these "experience" retailers once or twice, but in the end they go home and buy from whomever gives them the best value for the money.
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Your data is obsolete. Ebook sales are down; paper book sales are up. The situation is similar to the "death of cinema" when video stores appeared - an initial rush driven by a new medium and then a re-balancing as people who initially tried it and didn't like it go back to the older system (which is also adapting somewhat) and eventually you have a mixed market until the next big thing comes along and the process repeats.
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Its been 20 years since Amazon started selling books
and browse (Score:4, Interesting)
The reason they will come to the bookstore is to be able to browse, no-one comes in to buy anything specific (if they know that they would order it with their phone and save the trip). It's the ability to stock enough books to make the browsing experience worthwhile. The best bookshops I've been too have many times the number of books that a typical B&N has (had) on tap.
Perhaps he needs some tech that allows people to browse a bigger collection than are actually in the store. Maybe a "book simulator" that can download the entire contents of a book and allow someone to thumb through it in the store.
Re:and browse (Score:4, Interesting)
The reason they will come to the bookstore is to be able to browse, no-one comes in to buy anything specific (if they know that they would order it with their phone and save the trip). It's the ability to stock enough books to make the browsing experience worthwhile. The best bookshops I've been too have many times the number of books that a typical B&N has (had) on tap.
Perhaps he needs some tech that allows people to browse a bigger collection than are actually in the store. Maybe a "book simulator" that can download the entire contents of a book and allow someone to thumb through it in the store.
Yep. Every time I go into a B&N and look for a book, there are roughly only 3-4 shelves that actually have books I'd even be interested in, and they are usually mixed up with stuff I'm not. Specifically I like History and harder SciFi. The history sections are always tiny, and the SciFi is always mixed in with fantasy crap that it's hard to find something like the Lost Fleet series. It's much easier to go to Amazon where I can browse the equivalent of hundreds of shelves, not 5.
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Re:and browse (Score:4, Insightful)
People go to B&N because it's a coffee shop with reading material. They go there to relax and flip through books they rarely buy, but occasionally might buy.
There isn't enough value in having a massive store for that. A small store with interesting, curated stuff might work better in places where booksellers like this don't exist, but the big box model is outmoded.
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Good idea! I saw it implemented in my (usually) backwaters country of origin. Largely it was a quiet coffee shop in combination with bookstore/library. Minimal staff but comprised of book lovers who can recommend reads and advice visitors. If you like a book that is for sale, they'd order it for you, although usually there is a copy at the warehouse (cheap in a less prestigious part of town but still within minutes of walking) so you can get yours quickly. The staff organizes book-related activities for chi
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You need to go to a University bookstore, on a larger campus.
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Specifically I like ... harder SciFi ... and the SciFi is always mixed in with fantasy crap that it's hard to find something like the Lost Fleet series. It's much easier to go to Amazon where I can browse the equivalent of hundreds of shelves, not 5.
I'll admit to buying the Lost Fleet series (on Amazon ironically), and getting a certain guilty pleasure from them. I say 'guilty' pleasure because they were the type of writing I avidly consumed when I was a teenager, in other words simple & easy reading. They were also shockingly repetitive and the space combat completely ignored (or the author is ignorant of) the difference between vector and scalar quantities - essentially the difference between speed and velocity.
Please don't take this personally b
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Specifically I like ... harder SciFi ... and the SciFi is always mixed in with fantasy crap that it's hard to find something like the Lost Fleet series. It's much easier to go to Amazon where I can browse the equivalent of hundreds of shelves, not 5.
I'll admit to buying the Lost Fleet series (on Amazon ironically), and getting a certain guilty pleasure from them. I say 'guilty' pleasure because they were the type of writing I avidly consumed when I was a teenager, in other words simple & easy reading. They were also shockingly repetitive and the space combat completely ignored (or the author is ignorant of) the difference between vector and scalar quantities - essentially the difference between speed and velocity.
Please don't take this personally but to associate that series with 'hard sci-fi' is laughable!
Yeah, I got all my lost fleet books on Amazon ebooks. And I call it hard sci-fi in that, at least in the early books, there's no real underlying "woo" or leap of faith for everything to work (like the Force, or telekinetic abilities, or whatever). As for the physics aspect of it, the author (who served in the US Navy-and they always say to be a good writer write what you know) has admitted the physics in his books more closely align with movement in water, not space. But one characteristic that he does n
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Browsing is certainly important but too big a collection is overwhelming and "tech that allows people to browse a bigger collection" means the same can be accomplished online. Brick and mortar stores need to distinguish themselves with skilled curation that goes beyond what online recommendations can provide. For most who enjoy more than fast food reading, there's still no tech substitute for physically browsing books. The best way to cater to these individuals, which is probably a large part of the brick a
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The biggest problem is that books are just not as good as they used to be. Of course they can stock older books, but they need new ones to keep people buying and stay in business.
I wish there were more mooks. Not a typo, a mook is a kind of magazine-book hybrid. Unlike a magazine they don't have to stick to a publishing schedule so there is less filler and news. Unlike a book they have a magazine form factor and style with images and interesting layout.
Also please stop with the stupid titles. "Readbait: How
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I used to shop at Waldenbooks and Barnes and Noble back in the day, before I moved to Portland Oregon. Now I shop at Powells City Of Books and a couple of the other Powells bookstores.
Powells bills itself as the largest second hand bookstore in the world, and probably is. It also carries new books, mixed in with the used ones, all sorted into stacks by category and sub category. It is the place to go to look for information on an unfamiliar topic, or for uncommon views on familiar topics. I think they have
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I like going to Waterstones. They intentionally break up the store, make it impossible to go anywhere in a straight line, lead you through meandering shelves full of books across multiple floors.
Like proper bookshops should.
Won't be easy. (Score:2)
A lot of these stores that are going out of business based their business model on just being really big, so chances are what you look for is there.
This worked great, until access to the internet where you can find basically any book already. And unlike other Big Box store Like a Home Depot or a Wal*Mart, Books are not so much of an I need it now type of thing, but lets order it and I can wait for shipping.
What B&N does have for it, is its attempt for an atmosphere. However that current one screams l
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"you can have any book you want, as long as it's little and red"
Re: Won't be easy-Netcraft confirms:Reading is dyi (Score:1)
I was in a new bookstore in Shanghai recently. French architect designed it. It was amazing. Dozens of kids all over the floor, reading. Lots of stuff going on. A decent English section. I would hope to encounter this in my own town.
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Big isn't always a bad thing. Just look at China's bookstores.
How does China fill a big bookstore when 99% of books are banned? You can't even buy Winnie the Pooh there anymore.
Independent Bookstore (Score:5, Interesting)
I've been involved in independent bookstores for about 15 years now, and I'm going to be buying one in the next few months. While not huge moneymakers, independent bookstores are thriving. Of course, we're not just bookstores anymore. We host book clubs, local author events, have a café, sell puzzles and other similar games, and when I start running it, I plan to start a D&D night as well as hosting play readings. It's all about becoming creative in the marketplace. B&N seemed to just get bigger, not brighter.
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The changes have filled Waterstones' 289 shops, mostly in Britain, with books that customers actually want to buy, as opposed to the ones that publishers are eager to sell.
What a novel concept - selling what customers want to buy.
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Doesn't matter what the market, if you think you're going to win against Amazon by offering a crap experience you'll lose. I'll skip your waste of my time, make a couple taps on my phone and have my stuff in a day or two. You can't compete on inventory, you can't compete on expedience. Best come up with a compelling experience that makes me want to go there as a destination to be enjoyed, not a means to an end.
The B&N cafe, and a few comfy chairs help, but only in as much as they help me pass the tim
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no - bn has no reason to exist in 2019 (Score:2, Informative)
why do I say no?
* bn has lost its price advantage - since 2016, prices have been going up (this is a combination of the reduction or elimination of online discounts, lesser coupons, and higher cover prices)
* bn outsources order fulfillment to the same places wal-mart and others use, but charge more - anyone can stick a book in a box and send it to you
* membership has no real benefits - members get free mystery shipping (it's never the same shipping method twice) and a few coupons, but nothing else - most co
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You are exactly the kind of consumer bn does not need
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The problem is that he's the majority of consumers.
Tip from a frequent customer... (Score:4, Insightful)
Stop turning the book store into a shop for scrapbookers. Precious square footage that could be holding, you know, books is increasingly being used for cutesy supplies for housewives who put everything into scrapbooks. (This is the sort of thing that Borders did before they went belly up.) Meanwhile, the customers are going to the book store to peruse and buy books are being told by the store employees that "Sorry... we don't have that book in stock. But we have one at a store three hours away. Or we can order it for you." (Oh, great. I have to make a return trip or hope it doesn't get stolen off my front porch.) Except in some cases they can see the book on their computer terminal but cannot, for some odd reason, order it for you. Take a tip from grocery stores: when something is sold out in a fairly short amount of time... order more. Your computer should be telling you that title X is flying off the shelves and more should be shipped from the publisher. It's apparently popular enough that customers are actually buying it. Lately when checking out and I'm asked "Did you find everything you were looking for?", instead of a polite "Yeah", I'm telling the clerk "No-o-o. I had a list of N titles I was looking for and you had none of them in stock. That's why all I'm buying is this magazine."
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Stop turning the book store into a shop for scrapbookers. Precious square footage that could be holding, you know, books is increasingly being used for cutesy supplies for housewives who put everything into scrapbooks.
Really? Not around me. Bookstores just sell a bunch of toys and crappy Funkopop characters. Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million are toy stores first and foremost now.
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The scrapbooking thing I suppose was an effort to reverse the decline in book shoppers. Scrapbooking seems to be popular with mothers, its a thing. I don't know if this is the first place they go however.. Another thing they tried was to get into childrens books and toys more on the notion that you wouldnt give a young child an expensive electronic ebook.
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Sadly Waterstones are somewhat guilty of that themselves. If they have the floor space and still offer an adequate selection of books I'm not too concerned.
No! (Score:2)
First, because Betteridge says so, second, because it's dead.
Even on the article's photos, there are less than 10 customers combined.
The short answer: No. Consignment is dead. (Score:3)
The long answer: No B&N is basically the last major player in the consignment business.
And Amazon has completely rebuilt the industry. And nothing a brick and mortar outfit like B&N can do.
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Let's hope they don't let Bernard Black run the stores!
I think he does run my local B&N.
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No cellphones
No ajoebha
Books people want to buy (Score:3)
"books that customers actually want to buy, as opposed to the ones that publishers are eager to sell"
This. Exactly this. I used to browse the SF&F section and walk out with 10-20 books at a time. But something happened, and the stores started carrying almost nothing but reprints of old stuff (thanks, but I already own all of those) plus mass-produced drivel (like all those Star Trek books that are little more than fan-fic). No more new authors, nothing for a serious reader. And no staff actually knowledgeable about the books.
It's been nearly rwo decades since Waterstones and B&N were worth visiting. Can they reinvent themselves, or is it too late?
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Dunno why I'm replying to an AC, but anyway: yes. Bookstores needed to have the stuff I like.
Seriously: how many copies of Asimov's Foundation can they sell? Anyone who wants it already owns it. Yet, before the SF&F sections shrank to almost nothing, you would find 2-3 different reprints occupying shelf space. That's just braindead.
And: which part of "I walked out with 10-20 books at a time" did you not understand. People like me - serious readers - buy lots of books. It's hard to find decent stats, but
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I've now moved away from this city (as Ive moved to the other side of the world) but my local Waterstones had a good 10 meters of 6-8 tier shelving dedicated to Scifi and Fantasy - it ranged from hard scifi to manga, but it was always popular with customers, with regularly changing displays and stock (so either it was selling or they were moving it to other stores - probably selling).
This is why Waterstones is still successful - they really do stock what sells.
I hope he turns it around (Score:1)
I think he's right, I do walk out of there disappointed.
I go to a bookstore to find something new that I wouldn't normally consider. And a good conversation with a knowledgeable sales associate can lead me to new venues. Like the clerk at a Books-a-Million that introduced me to Patrick Rothfuss several years ago. That was a good experience.
The other thing he needs to fix his the BN Nook book pricing. Why do I get a big discount on a paper book and
Foyle’s in London (Score:1)
The only bookshop I’ve found worth visiting (at least for technical books) is Foyles.
The staff actually seem to know about the subjects and the books they stock are up to date.
Every time I go in I walk away with something interesting.
They must have at least 10 racks of books on programming and full rows of the hard sciences, maths and engineering.
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I hate to tell you this but Waterstones have bought Foyles. That's part of the reason they moved from their old, wonderful, premises to the new harshly lit and coldly sterile "M&S Style" location down the street.
So far the content hasn't suffered too much, although the computing section has noticeably less material off the beaten track and I'm not sure why we need a Jazz shop taking up space but I suppose in London there's enough Jazz enthusiasts to maybe make it work.
The real problem for book sellers (
No. (Score:2)
...because they cannot change the fundamental fact that in the developed world, fewer and fewer people are reading for pleasure.
I'm 51. I *love* to read, and used to do it all the time. I used to read easily 3-4 novels a week.
Now, I barely ever do (last big read I did was around Christmas when I plowed through all the books of the Malazan series - damn that was great). and find myself having to deliberately set aside time, go to bed early, etc to ensure that I have the spare hour or so to really get into
To start: do the opposite Borders did (Score:2)
Amazon is irrelevant here (Score:1)
their fault (Score:2)
I wanted to purchase books at the brick and mortar but they were just too high. They did not honor their own online prices which was usually about 10-20 percent cheaper before members discount. Why would I not want to buy my books online?