# Barnes & Noble changes and the future of bookstores **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [July 29, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789 "2023-07-29T12:40:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bashorian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bashorian/32/3546_2.png) [@Bashorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bashorian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/1 "2023-07-29T12:40:17Z")
[Barnes & Noble](https://www.wsj.com/articles/barnes-noble-bookstores-james-daunt-c1afc06b?st=7u8qtftye2q6qqu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink) (gift link to WSJ item) wants to renovate its brick and mortar locations in an Indie Bookstore motif in an effort to revive its business. The most significant changes include allowing employees to determine where books should be displayed and how, along with shifting cash registers from the front of the store to the back and other little moves. I miss bookstores. A lot. Going to the bookstore, new and used, was a fun way to spend an afternoon or evening. But now there aren’t any book sellers within 20 miles of where I live. And I, like so many others, have adapted to reading magazines & newspapers online and books on my Kindle. If Barnes & Noble is successful I expect that other book shops will open. I hope that happens. But I don’t know that I have optimism that the changes that Barnes & Noble is making will be attractive enough for consumers to support and sustain a bookstore revival. I think there’s a demand for it from a certain type of consumer who is, maybe, 40+ years old, but the dead-tree people are aging out. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/2 "2023-07-29T12:56:44Z")
Maybe it could use a couple of nooks with comfy chairs? Some bookstores also occasionally host readings by popular authors. Certainly it seems wise to leave many decisions to the employees who work at that particular branch. As for e-books, whether or not anyone is “aging out”, they should offer electronic versions of most or all of the books at a discount; why not? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/3 "2023-07-29T13:28:27Z")
Actually, I’ve read that the number of independent bookstores has grown recently. ([Gift link](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/10/books/bookstores-diversity-pandemic.html?unlocked_article_code=lyleS8mPmbDdgzNF9OJTmdLkQn4tjnW725-9pHzIcITEiEV2yy5Y0RY49rnFgn1vjQMRjNGuKDzjxWImXQe4Pkcd14nJudYP00C1qAQgtv8mwIlWiDybKlY7KJ_fLx1S3R4aq4U8gHj6-Vd3hTCAreelb0XXmo11QvnMYFQ1mno8WEVEa3gzSUWJU1fV0LPFK2H2l-RniiLqoITmukJ9OiT-Bno96h5T2W267QX_uzL6qjNuf8So5O0LaOJenzgsF4JEHG0NbxoWzx63Da-7qgqjQ-IXz8IVkAXR3KeG0067uuGV8CqWtTBJ18N-EE1ktfPC3CxpQFqyv1bfME7I-33Lng&smid=url-share) to a year-old New York Times article). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/4 "2023-07-29T13:33:08Z")
> [@Bashorian](#): > > But I don’t know that I have optimism that the changes that Barnes & Noble is making will be attractive enough for consumers to support and sustain a bookstore revival. “I stopped shopping at physical bookstores, but now that they have moved the cash registers to a different part of the store and allow the employees to arrange the books however they want, I’m back in!” –Nobody, ever. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/5 "2023-07-29T13:35:04Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Maybe it could use a couple of nooks with comfy chairs? Worked for Borders. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/6 "2023-07-29T13:37:59Z")
I think Barnes & Noble stores have had that (comfy chairs and places to read) for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/7 "2023-07-29T13:39:31Z")
Agree w **Darren**. This is a dead-end corporation in a dead-end line of business doing one last rearranging of the deck chairs before slipping 'neath the waves. The public, including the reading public, has minimal interest in dead tree books. No amount of retail outlet design can re-create that long-gone demand. If they want to try to recreate a library _cum_ Starbucks experience they may well get some people to sit there looking like customers sipping their coffees. But there won’t be any revenue in that. And to the degree those non-customers “borrow” a book from the shelves, read a couple hours, then put it back without buying, they’ll be contributing to large amounts of unsaleable semi-damaged merchandise. This has “lose-lose” written all over it. Registers in back is code for “more shoplifting in front.” Not sure how they intend to square that except with more employees. In an era when labor costs are a back-breaker for most of retail, and the quality of worker available for low-wage jobs is at an all-time low. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/8 "2023-07-29T13:43:40Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The public, including the reading public, has minimal interest in dead tree books. I used to accumulate dead-tree books far faster than I could read them. Now I accumulate ebooks far faster than I can read them. But instead of covering walls and flat surfaces, the hoard fits on basically a small thick postage stamp. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/9 "2023-07-29T13:46:08Z")
> [@Bashorian](#): > > What do you think? This will all be futile unless they bring in bookstore cats. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/10 "2023-07-29T13:46:46Z")
I do miss bookstore cats. I haven’t seen one outside of in New Orleans in over a decade now. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/11 "2023-07-29T13:47:26Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Worked for Borders. lol I do not specifically give a fuck about the future of Barnes & Noble (though I have bought hardcover books from them because I liked the discount), but I have discovered interesting books that I may not have otherwise encountered by browsing the shelves at bookstores (and public and non-public libraries), just saying. There is also electronic browsing, to be sure, like computer-generated “suggestions” or straightforward lists of thousands of authors and titles. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Allowing book shelving at the whims of store employees doesn’t sound like a formula for success to me. The fantasy would be that said employees know and love books and would take the time to discuss them with you… maybe not a giant chain store thing. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/12 "2023-07-29T13:49:15Z")
Allowing book shelving at the whims of store employees doesn’t sound like a formula for success to me. Catering to superior types who sneer at “dead tree books” and clog up tables using their Kindles doesn’t sound like a long-term recipe for success at Starbucks either. ---
**Author:** ![Digger11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Digger11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digger11)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/13 "2023-07-29T14:18:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The public, including the reading public, has minimal interest in dead tree books. No amount of retail outlet design can re-create that long-gone demand. It’s amazing what 10 seconds of basic research will reveal. > **[Printed Books vs eBooks Statistics, Trends and Facts \[2023\]](https://www.tonerbuzz.com/blog/paper-books-vs-ebooks-statistics/)** > > Print book vs eBook statistics show that print books are still the most popular reading format and the biggest money maker for book publishers. > **[Infographic: E-Books Still No Match for Printed Books](https://www.statista.com/chart/24709/e-book-and-printed-book-penetration/)** > > This chart shows the estimated share of the population in selected countries that purchased an e-book / a printed book in 2021. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/14 "2023-07-29T14:23:55Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Allowing book shelving at the whims of store employees doesn’t sound like a formula for success to me. Having the people who run and work at that individual store determine the store layout and shelving is how it already necessarily works at indie bookstores, so it’s not a bad idea, and it makes for a more interesting experience than if every B&N is laid out exactly like every other B&N. But I doubt if it’s enough to turn a failing store into a successful one. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/15 "2023-07-29T14:47:16Z")
I don’t want an “interesting experience” at a bookstore if it means wandering around to find out where employees have decided to shelve the book category I’m interested in. “Oh, this month employees voted to put the mystery books over there, next to cookbooks.” ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/16 "2023-07-29T14:52:27Z")
My B&N has brought back hundreds of DVDs & Blu-Ray movie selections, including Criterion Collection which had 50% discounts a couple of weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/17 "2023-07-29T15:07:15Z")
I live in the outer radius of the Five Colleges aka Pioneer Valley area of western MA. Bookstores are not dead here. There’s a Borders or maybe B&N in the Big Box Strip town of South Hadley but otherwise, towns of 2-3000 people around here usually have at least one independent bookstore, and the big towns have ten to twelve – rare books, comic books, used books, new books … books. It’s true my own town doesn’t, but it’s under 2000 people and manages to run a magnificent library with a marble-pillared cupola. But, New England is really different than the rest of the US. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/18 "2023-07-29T15:15:46Z")
> [@Digger11](#): > > It’s amazing what 10 seconds of basic research will reveal. I knew I was getting out-of-touch, but I didn’t think I was _that_ out of touch that eBooks have far and clearly surpassed dead tree books. (And looks like they haven’t, at least by the metric of purchases in the past year.) I’m on the younger side of Gen X and I generally just can’t get used to eBooks. I’ve read a number of them, and there’s some things I like about them (like looking up unfamiliar words with minimal hassle and break in storyline). But nobody in my peer group reads a majority of material as eBooks. My wife is a few years younger than me and in computer science, and I’ve never once seen her with an eBook. She’s constantly coming back from thrift stores with used paperbacks. I think we still have a good decade or two before eBooks absolutely take over. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/19 "2023-07-29T15:22:38Z")
The one in phila., has moved locations and is half the size. It does have the registers in the back. I don’t know if they changed the one at u of p. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789/20 "2023-07-29T15:44:57Z")
One of my classmates is a bookstore manager. He’s said it’s hard to muster enthusiasm about books in general. My sister a seventh grade English teacher said it’s hard for authors to get to a point. She told me this one book took 126 pp before setting an action step the reader could take. That’s longer than The Old Man and the Sea, for Pete’s sake. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barnes-noble-changes-and-the-future-of-bookstores/987789.md?page=2)