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In Canada, Indigo is a chain of bookstores just like B&N. To counter the threat of Amazon, they have dedicated a large amount of their stores’ square footage to
by so33 9y ago
In Canada, Indigo is a chain of bookstores just like B&N. To counter the threat of Amazon, they have dedicated a large amount of their stores’ square footage to a lifestyle concept that sells aesthetically pleasing stationery, home goods, and gifts. AFAICT this has allowed them to keep afloat and they do still sell quite a bit of books.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoA quarter of B&N now devoted to toys. They also earn more in their cafe than they probably do selling books.
- iopuy 9y agoIs this a fact or something you just assume?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoThe floor space is anecdote, but I have yet to see a B&N that didn’t conform to that in the last few years. As for the cafe profits see articles like http://www.nrn.com/onsite/barnes-noble-expand-food-and-beverage-offerings http://www.nrn.com/onsite/barnes-noble-expand-food-and-bever..., downscaled cafes already bring in 10% of all sales for the store, the profit margins on those must be much higher than books.
- megaman22 9y agoAs far as I've seen, every chain bookstore has tried this, and most have subsequently gone belly up. It's a little like RadioShack going into cellphones. Maybe you can keep your head above water for a minute, but there's an existential risk in pivoting away from your raison d'etre.
- bobsil1 9y agoIronically, Amazon Books stores have big floor area for electronics.
- megaman22 9y agoIs that ironic? Amazon has also become the electronics retailer as well. I don't recall the last time I've bought anything at Newegg or Monoprice, or BestBuy. It's basically Amazon or bust, at this point - if I desperately need something right now, I'll gamble on Walmart maybe having it in stock, but chances tend not to be good, and the selection awful.
- dragonwriter 9y ago> To counter the threat of Amazon, they have dedicated a large amount of their stores’ square footage to a lifestyle concept that sells aesthetically pleasing stationery, home goods, and gifts. B&N does that, too. Plus the in-store café.
- ascorbic 9y agoWaterstone's - another similar chain in the UK - returned to profit from near death with a strategy of treating each branch like a local independent. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/03/balancing-the-books-how-waterstones-returned-to-profit https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/03/balancing-the-...