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News & ArtsMonday, October 19, 2009
Books / Retail With a Whimper
Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 2:34 PM
After closing 35 to 40 B. Dalton stores annually for years now, Barnes & Noble is preparing to shutter the last remaining group of 50 Dalton outlets.
There's got to be a bookstore model that works, doesn't there?
2
I mean, you could try some sort of "boutique" approach - but you'd have difficulty with advertising and publicity. Things that are too weird just aren't of interest to the casual reading attendee - I mean, the general public.
4
As a Minnesota native, this news makes me a little sad.
And now I'm over it.
Someday in the future, EVERYTHING will be designed, produced, and distributed by a single corporation.
And now I'm over it.
Someday in the future, EVERYTHING will be designed, produced, and distributed by a single corporation.
7
It's just as well; this finishes off the sponsor of another also-defunct part of my childhood: Reading Rainbow.
8
Wow. B Dalton still is the only (non-Christian) bookstore in my hometown. At least for the next 90 days. :( I'll be sure to bring my books with me now when I have to go back home.
9
My first bookselling job was for B. Dalton in New Orleans on Canal street. I later moved, literally, across the street to work at the Waldenbooks on Canal and Bourbon.
Both of those stores have now been closed for years - the latter a victim of over-staturation: there were four Waldenbooks within walking distance of each other (Riverwalk, Jax Brewery, New Orleans Centre, and Canal street) not to mention the B. Dalton locations. Clearly that was a model that was sure to fail.
I have fond memories of those stores and the slightly/quite odd clientele that we'd get.
Both of those stores have now been closed for years - the latter a victim of over-staturation: there were four Waldenbooks within walking distance of each other (Riverwalk, Jax Brewery, New Orleans Centre, and Canal street) not to mention the B. Dalton locations. Clearly that was a model that was sure to fail.
I have fond memories of those stores and the slightly/quite odd clientele that we'd get.
11
Powells works great.
http://www.powells.com
The last time I was there a few months ago, the sales were flying, the bookstore packed (as was the sidewalk full of cafes and shops).
Their website is really good too.
Powells works great.
http://www.powells.com
The last time I was there a few months ago, the sales were flying, the bookstore packed (as was the sidewalk full of cafes and shops).
Their website is really good too.
12
Half-Price books has nothing to do with the book business, since they are a used-book store. And Amazon is not a real bookstore either.
13
My first bookstore job was in a B. Dalton's, in Cambrian Park Plaza Shopping Center in San Jose, CA. It was a terrible store, like all B. Dalton's (or Waldenbooks). After a couple of months, marked only by the occasion of me hand-selling a very impressionable young lass who was traveling to Ireland a copy of "Ulysses", which she would no doubt blacken my eye with if she ran across me today, I moved to the far more prestigious Upstart Crow and Company in nearby Campbell, in the deliciously-named Pruneyard (named, as these things tend to be, after an actual pruneyard, which was uprooted for the shopping center).
No great loss. But I had a little pang of nostalgia there.
No great loss. But I had a little pang of nostalgia there.
14
Why is Amazon not a real bookstore? The "see inside" functionality allows me to browse, and the reviews, lists, and auto-suggestions give me far more information than a clerk could.
16
#12: it's a building...with books in it....for sale, at discount prices...and they are profitable and kicking the ass out of "traditional" booksellers.
Traditional book retailers are dying because they, (like WiS and my friend at #12) are clinging to old, outdated definitions of bookstores.
Traditional book retailers are dying because they, (like WiS and my friend at #12) are clinging to old, outdated definitions of bookstores.
17
Be honest: When was the last time you left the house and went specifically to BDalton or Waldenbooks to get something. Like, woke up, wanted a specific book, considered your options and decided that this was your best best for buying a book.
Me? This summer while living in BFE Maine it was still the 2nd best option available. The local new (and some used) bookstore had a better selection, a local coffee bar/deli, and a massive periodical section you would never see at the Mall chains.
B Dalton was only a place for people who were interested in buying those strangely long "easy-to-hold" trade paperbacks for $9.99 + tax (which you can get at Safeway for cheaper) and some remainder oversized coffee table books to give to your parents as gifts when you don't know what to get them for Christmas.
Aren't Costco and AMZN local companies that we should want to support?
(Also, Amazon prime outside of the states they collect sales tax for is really the bestest thing)
Me? This summer while living in BFE Maine it was still the 2nd best option available. The local new (and some used) bookstore had a better selection, a local coffee bar/deli, and a massive periodical section you would never see at the Mall chains.
B Dalton was only a place for people who were interested in buying those strangely long "easy-to-hold" trade paperbacks for $9.99 + tax (which you can get at Safeway for cheaper) and some remainder oversized coffee table books to give to your parents as gifts when you don't know what to get them for Christmas.
Aren't Costco and AMZN local companies that we should want to support?
(Also, Amazon prime outside of the states they collect sales tax for is really the bestest thing)
18
When I was in high school I stole a ton of books from the B Dalton in the Sunrise Mall.
Goodbye, old friend.
Goodbye, old friend.
19
"There's got to be a bookstore model that works, doesn't there?"
If I'm thinking right, the answer was provided by this very blog about a year or two ago: Locate your bookstore inside an airport. For whatever reason, they're booming.
(I'm pretty sure it was here, although a cursory search has nothing, and I'm too disinterested in the concept of bookstores in terminals to try harder.)
If I'm thinking right, the answer was provided by this very blog about a year or two ago: Locate your bookstore inside an airport. For whatever reason, they're booming.
(I'm pretty sure it was here, although a cursory search has nothing, and I'm too disinterested in the concept of bookstores in terminals to try harder.)
20
Ok, here's a chance for me to give my little speech about bookstores. I worked in a Joseph Beth and then in a B&N for about 5 years total.
Bookstores are failing for 2 reasons. First, the corporations that own them see books as product and not as transmitters of knowledge. So if Vera Bradley handbags or obscure board games have a higher profit margin, goodbye bookshelves. And corporate bookstore chains are like all the rest of them-if a store doesn't make *enough* profit, it's gone. It can be turning a small but respectable profit that any indie would be happy with, but corporations are there to squeeze every last cent out of their businesses, and if they're not squeezing out enough, too bad for the customers.
Second, those same customers contribute to the death of bookstores by the way they shop. They'll use the bookstore like a library, come in and read the books, do their homework with the books, entertain their children with the books (all of which damages them and makes them unsellable), then go find the best price they can when they decide to buy, which usually means online. They complain when you don't have every book ever printed on the floor, and they complain when there's not enough help on the floor, but they don't understand that space and employees cost money. You can't have vast selection, great customer service AND low prices, people. If you love having a bookstore in your neighborhood, I suggest you suck it up and pay a few extra dollars for the privilege-or else it will be gone.
Bookstores are failing for 2 reasons. First, the corporations that own them see books as product and not as transmitters of knowledge. So if Vera Bradley handbags or obscure board games have a higher profit margin, goodbye bookshelves. And corporate bookstore chains are like all the rest of them-if a store doesn't make *enough* profit, it's gone. It can be turning a small but respectable profit that any indie would be happy with, but corporations are there to squeeze every last cent out of their businesses, and if they're not squeezing out enough, too bad for the customers.
Second, those same customers contribute to the death of bookstores by the way they shop. They'll use the bookstore like a library, come in and read the books, do their homework with the books, entertain their children with the books (all of which damages them and makes them unsellable), then go find the best price they can when they decide to buy, which usually means online. They complain when you don't have every book ever printed on the floor, and they complain when there's not enough help on the floor, but they don't understand that space and employees cost money. You can't have vast selection, great customer service AND low prices, people. If you love having a bookstore in your neighborhood, I suggest you suck it up and pay a few extra dollars for the privilege-or else it will be gone.
21
I have to agree with you, @14. (And this is coming from a lover of bookstores - I love the aimless browsing, I love the physical feel of a book, blah blah blah.) Now, more often than not, when I go into a Borders or a B&N, and I ask a clerk about an author or a title, they point me towards their self-serve kiosks, or they look it up on their company's website. Very disheartening.
22
A variation of this same game is played every week on NPR's radio game show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me". Is this Christie moron going to go after them too?
23
It's sad, but bookstores are going the way of the deliver-to-your-door milkman. Whether the book industry can survive in a Wal-Mart & Amazon world is a good, scary question. Will just be a bunch of Tom Clancy, John Gresham, & Stephen King crap. Online stuff like the Kindle, and hopefully less-tethered follow-ons? Maybe....
24
First of all, I worked in bookstores, chain and indie, for many years. By any measure except the "physical building," Amazon is a bookstore, and a damn good one. They have practically anything you want, they recommend items, they provide reviews, and the clerks don't sneer at you when you buy something they think is below them.
I tried for years to be loyal to my brick-and-mortar stores, but even the biggest stores now rarely have what I'm looking for, and I don't necessarily mean odd, esoteric titles either. Borders is the worst; there's a huge Borders near me and I can rarely find what I'm looking for, even when it's a relatively big title which has been featured in the New York Times Book Review. When their computers tell you they have the title, and even narrow in on the shelf it's supposed to be on, but I (a former bookstore clerk and manager) can't find it, and then a clerk can't find it, there's something wrong. This happened to me so often, I've finally skipped Borders almost altogether. B&N is a little better.
I guess what I'm saying is that, except for specialty stores, maybe it's time to kiss the physical bookstore goodbye. Online is the way to go. Yes, I miss the activity of looking through books to find serendipitous surprises, and that's something that online bookselling will never be good at, but I'm always happy with my shopping experiences at Amazon.
PS--I visited Portland OR in August and loved Powell's, especially the mixing of new and used books on the shelves, but I suspect that kind of store couldn't possibly work in every major city.
I tried for years to be loyal to my brick-and-mortar stores, but even the biggest stores now rarely have what I'm looking for, and I don't necessarily mean odd, esoteric titles either. Borders is the worst; there's a huge Borders near me and I can rarely find what I'm looking for, even when it's a relatively big title which has been featured in the New York Times Book Review. When their computers tell you they have the title, and even narrow in on the shelf it's supposed to be on, but I (a former bookstore clerk and manager) can't find it, and then a clerk can't find it, there's something wrong. This happened to me so often, I've finally skipped Borders almost altogether. B&N is a little better.
I guess what I'm saying is that, except for specialty stores, maybe it's time to kiss the physical bookstore goodbye. Online is the way to go. Yes, I miss the activity of looking through books to find serendipitous surprises, and that's something that online bookselling will never be good at, but I'm always happy with my shopping experiences at Amazon.
PS--I visited Portland OR in August and loved Powell's, especially the mixing of new and used books on the shelves, but I suspect that kind of store couldn't possibly work in every major city.
25
@4, I had no idea B. Dalton was started by Dayton's. I guess that would explain the prehistoric-looking standalone store at Olson Mem. Hwy and Glenwood.
Some of my favorite memories as a kid were buying Calvin and Hobbes and John Bellairs books from the B. Dalton at the mall. Of course, the last time I was in a B. Dalton, Calvin and Hobbes had probably just ended, and John Bellairs was still alive.
Some of my favorite memories as a kid were buying Calvin and Hobbes and John Bellairs books from the B. Dalton at the mall. Of course, the last time I was in a B. Dalton, Calvin and Hobbes had probably just ended, and John Bellairs was still alive.
26
I hope everyone realizes that Amazon.com began by selling books AT A LOSS and claimed the losses on their taxes to keep the company going until they could add CD's, DVD's, crock pots and everything else known to mankind which they charge normal prices on....FINALLY making a profit. They have put so many independent bookstores and college bookstores out of business because of the tight margins brick and mortar bookstores must function with. They STILL to this day sell many books for less than they pay for them and the book division acts as a loss leader to keep people coming back. If you hate Wal Mart for what they have done to small town America, add Amazon.com to your list to avoid. www.alibris.com is a network of used bookstores and independent bookstores where you can buy online just like amazon with better prices and service. If you want real bookstores and those who operate and run and love them to exist.....buy at alibris when you buy online, and forget amazon.
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