Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

Just read that B&N is planning to thin the herd by closing up to a third of their stores over the next decade. I figured they'd do a little better since theyre the only game in town for large bookstores. I know the ones by me are usually busy when I visit. Even though I have an e-reader I still love going to the bookstore.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/...of-stores.html

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

We have five major stores in a fifteen mile radius. Two Barnes and Noble, two Joseph-Beth Booksellers and a Half-Price Books.

I buy books mainly on my e-reader. Have been to the bookstore probably twice in the last year. So getting rid of one or two doesn't really affect me.

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

Print is going the way of the dodo.

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

It was really upsetting to me a few years ago when Borders went out of business, since I always preferred them to B&N. In the Baltimore area these days, Barnes & Noble is about it for bookstores. Waldenbooks is long gone, too, and there aren't many local shops left, either. :(

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

I'd say it's more like the brick & mortar stores going that way. Amazon and Book Depository and whatnot is just taking a bigger piece of the print sales pie every year. Print will still be around for awhile i'd guess..

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

There's only one B&N in my entire state, so hopefully that won't be one of the stores that gets shut down.

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

Agreed. I still enjoy going to the B&N/bookstore a few times a year too. Where will authors have book signings once they are all gone?

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

I live in the DFW area, and just off the top of my head I can think of 6 or 8 B & N outlets within a 10 mile radius of my house. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some of them bite the dust, although I hope the chain doesn't die altogether.

I was about to say that B & N is my favorite place to browse, but actually I'd have to say that goes to Half Price Books, which has about the same number of stores that B & N has. And they are always busy. They are even starting to sell new books there, often at a significant discount. They had the final Wheel of Time novel for sale at 20% off on release day. I wonder how much chains like that are eating in to Barnes & Noble's sales.

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

Libraries and Star Trek conventions?

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

The closest B&N to me got rid of their Video/DVD section about a year ago. Their Star trek book section is basically one shelf now. I'd rather go to the nearest Half-Price Books but that's another 50 miles away, so that doesn't happen to often.

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

We have the same problem in France with the Virgin Megastore chain. They are currently under a receivership procedure (I hope it's the correct word in English). They're under supervision of the court for the next four months. On the TV news they explained that it might be partially because of Amazon but the employees who were interviewed talked about bad management decisions. We have two big bookstore chains in France and Virgin Megastore is one of them. So if they close ... :(

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

They're the only game in my town for any bookstores, period. (Well, for new books. We do have two stores that deal in used books.)

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

When I travel to the U.S, I always make it a point to stop in whenever I find a B&N. I have picked up many a good book that I can't find here. I would not be surprised if the same thing happens here with our 'Chapters' chain.

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

I went to my local Waldenbooks store at least two or three times a month and loved looking through the shelves to find something that caught my eye (that's how I bought the majority of my books). The nearest Barnes & Nobel is the only bookstore in my area now and it is a bit out of my way, so my shopping there is often once in a blue moon. Still, the loss of it would be nothing short of disastrous for me because I would be limited to books that a few local grocery stores might carry, and they don't exactly have the best selection. Online, I'd be limited to books from any series that I currently know.

Re: Barnes & Nobel shrinking
 

I always bemoan the closing of book stores, but I really have no right to. I buy almost exclusively through Amazon or SFBC.