Fantastic piece. I've been so intrigued by the changes at B&N. I like Daunt at the helm. All of the ones I visit have moved into smaller buildings and they each have different vibes. I drive an extra 20 min to hit the one I like most now.
You can definitely tell the change at our local shop in Cool Springs, Tennessee. I love going there. I'd say most B&Ns I've visited in the last few years have been impressive. I was in Roseville, California, recently and the fiction section was superb.
I cheered the rise of Amazon, mostly because I loved the concept of "long tail distribution," where they maintained a small inventory and custom ordered whatever the customer wanted. Back then, Amazon was the little guy, who was laughed at by the B. Dalton's and Walden Books of the world. I like this B&N concept. It certainly will keep them from turning into a Books-A-Million model, with bins of books that no one has time to browse through.
I love Amazon. I think the problem is when nobody knows what lane they're in. Amazon solved a major problem that the big box stores couldn't address. But now that the Amazon model has solidified, indies are back and so is B&N because they're all doing different stuff, meeting customers in different ways. It's win-win.
If everyone solidifies behind the "more reading is good" philosophy, there is plenty of business for everyone. I haven't been to the local B&N in a while, though. Most of my purchases are split between Amazon and the smaller shops.
What a fascinating piece. When I came to the part about staffing stores with experts, my immediate thoughts were AI and libraries. Robots are also very good at finding “related” or “similar” titles, but you can’t immediately have the look and feel of the physical volume. Suggesting titles has been the job of librarians forever, but as PLs have become social service agencies with a smelly and often unruly clientele, they’re readily avoided, and the poor librarian will be likely found behind a wall of plexiglass. A welcoming, human bookshop with comfy seating and tables where friends or families can congregate can be a real draw, even if there are faster ways to acquire a title. It restores serendipity and humanity in ways an algorithm will never reproduce.
I wonder about how much autonomy BN is really giving their individual stores. Glad to see selection is improving, but will it ever be as good as an independent bookstore where employees (like myself) can get books they can hand sell all year? If you did a stock comparison between the two, you might find better fiction selections at BN, but what about philosophy, history, and those self created sections like "Oddities" and "counter culture"? I suspect that many of Daunt's comments are just PR.
So fascinating! There’s a new (ish) one and this year I spent an afternoon meandering and was very impressed with the fiction books carried and the titles. I popped in for a date and was delighted because the once boring one wall of classics has been expanded and there’s much more now!
I think this is such an important point about the earlier demonization of Barnes & Noble. In a lot of cases, they were the only real local bookstores people had; that’s still true.
Fantastic piece. I've been so intrigued by the changes at B&N. I like Daunt at the helm. All of the ones I visit have moved into smaller buildings and they each have different vibes. I drive an extra 20 min to hit the one I like most now.
You can definitely tell the change at our local shop in Cool Springs, Tennessee. I love going there. I'd say most B&Ns I've visited in the last few years have been impressive. I was in Roseville, California, recently and the fiction section was superb.
I cheered the rise of Amazon, mostly because I loved the concept of "long tail distribution," where they maintained a small inventory and custom ordered whatever the customer wanted. Back then, Amazon was the little guy, who was laughed at by the B. Dalton's and Walden Books of the world. I like this B&N concept. It certainly will keep them from turning into a Books-A-Million model, with bins of books that no one has time to browse through.
I love Amazon. I think the problem is when nobody knows what lane they're in. Amazon solved a major problem that the big box stores couldn't address. But now that the Amazon model has solidified, indies are back and so is B&N because they're all doing different stuff, meeting customers in different ways. It's win-win.
If everyone solidifies behind the "more reading is good" philosophy, there is plenty of business for everyone. I haven't been to the local B&N in a while, though. Most of my purchases are split between Amazon and the smaller shops.
What a fascinating piece. When I came to the part about staffing stores with experts, my immediate thoughts were AI and libraries. Robots are also very good at finding “related” or “similar” titles, but you can’t immediately have the look and feel of the physical volume. Suggesting titles has been the job of librarians forever, but as PLs have become social service agencies with a smelly and often unruly clientele, they’re readily avoided, and the poor librarian will be likely found behind a wall of plexiglass. A welcoming, human bookshop with comfy seating and tables where friends or families can congregate can be a real draw, even if there are faster ways to acquire a title. It restores serendipity and humanity in ways an algorithm will never reproduce.
Excellent
I wonder about how much autonomy BN is really giving their individual stores. Glad to see selection is improving, but will it ever be as good as an independent bookstore where employees (like myself) can get books they can hand sell all year? If you did a stock comparison between the two, you might find better fiction selections at BN, but what about philosophy, history, and those self created sections like "Oddities" and "counter culture"? I suspect that many of Daunt's comments are just PR.
Wow I didn’t know Daunt’s involvement with B&N or Waterstones. Interesting, enjoyable read. Thanks.
My pleasure! He's a godsend.
So fascinating! There’s a new (ish) one and this year I spent an afternoon meandering and was very impressed with the fiction books carried and the titles. I popped in for a date and was delighted because the once boring one wall of classics has been expanded and there’s much more now!
B&N is a great stopoff on a date!
We live rurally so no local indie bookshops unless you count the thrift stores! So going into “town” to eat and having the B&N walkable is so fun!
I think this is such an important point about the earlier demonization of Barnes & Noble. In a lot of cases, they were the only real local bookstores people had; that’s still true.