>Of course, there’s a lesson here. And it’s not just for books. You could also apply it to music, newspapers, films, and a host of other media.

>But I almost hate to say it, because the lesson is so simple.

>If you want to sell music, you must love those songs. If you want to succeed in journalism, you must love those newspapers. If you want to succeed in movies, you must love the cinema.

Preach it! There was a time when bookstores were run by booksellers, not MBAs. When newspapers were run by newspapermen, not corporate mercenaries. You've got people in charge of these companies who look at their assets (including century-long reputations) and see a bunch of junk that should be turned into cash, rather than a business that accomplishes a service or provides goods and pays well those who do it.

I thought it was kind of cool they brought up how the staff run their own stores. And this does show. When I go to Barnes and Noble and they have staff picks or I can chat with the staff about what books they like, that’s a good sign of a great store.

Incidentally, I’d be curious to see what ebook sales look like to the average consumer. I don’t discount them as a market, especially among heavy readers, but I personally see less ereaders out there these days than I used to and I see many more books. And my personal preference is for books as I just don’t enjoy the format of ereaders. So I’d be interested to see if that market is dipping or not.

The thing I learn, but already knew, is that advertisers and discounts are not something there to help the buyer. They are there to earn money. Companies to not spend thousands or millions on advertising just for fun, they do it to get you to buy something that you normally would not buy. We are all aware of McDonalds or Coca-Cola but they spend millions to make sure their products are at the front of your brain. I like what this guy at B&N is doing, cutting the junk out. With books it is a huge thing not to see what the publishers are trying to force as the next best seller placed at the front and instead books that people actually like.

I didn't think it was that surprising.

Barnes and Nobles always had the best atmosphere of the big chains. Borders felt like a Kmart, no surprise when they closed. Books A Million had that Kmart feel too back in the day, but, they ripped a page out of BN's book and now look like Barnes on the inside.

People aren't just there for the books, they are there for an experience. Barnes and Noble got it in a way the other chains didn't.

If it feels like you are shopping in a Kmart, why not just shop online?

I go to Barnes and now Books a Million for the fun of walking through a predictable bookstore experience. I'm more likely to frequent my local bookstore, but, sometimes those big corporate places can be fun.

It is just too bad they didn't turn it around sooner. My husband left after being there over a decade, as head of a department, about a year or so before the surprise firing of most of their full time employees who weren't management that's mentioned in this article. He ended up at the library, which is also where a couple of coworkers landed. B&N lost a whole lot of incredibly knowledgeable career booksellers who were passionate about the job with that decision to just fire them all. Not employees who were there for a random retail job, a lot of those full timers were the "true believers" Decades of industry experience just gone. Glad they're turning it around but that's all I can think about all that. I worked there way back in 2001-2003 but that was an entirely different sort of retail environment.

I'm sticking with the Indy bookstores

Interesting article. I’m disappointed he doesn’t know how to spell tchotchkes.

So the trick is selling good books they think the readers might actually want to read, rather than accepting money from publishers to hawk subpar « bestsellers » that the corporate overlords have decided should sell ? Amazing ! Who would have thought it ? /s

Something I have noticed here in France is that the bookshops that are successful are the big independent bookshops like Gibert Joseph in the Quartier Latin in Paris. They tend to be huge, with a lot of nooks and crannies full of books on various esoteric subjects. They can give Amazon a run for their money when it come to the variety and availability of the books they sell, and there is always a great atmosphere in these bookshops. They are paradises for bookworms. Even as someone who almost always read on my Kindle now and buy ebooks on Amazon, this is still the kind of places I love to go to and buy books from. And I am not the only one : Gibert Joseph is not only thriving, but also opening subsidiary bookshops in other big towns of France. By contrast, FNAC, the main chain bookstore in France, switched over the years from mostly selling books to mostly selling electronic devices, and only survived the pandemic thanks to a loan from the government.

Sometimes I get a coffee at the pseudo-Starbucks in the store and then sit and read a magazine.

Barnes & Noble is a decent experience, but for me, Kindles are a far better reading experience. If there was a way to buy Kindle books from a bricks and mortar store I would consider it.

It helps that a lot of the "Picks of the Month" come from other Booksellers from other stores and not just corporate picks.

Very cool story! I used to be in publishing sales 20 years ago, when mom and pops were still holding their own against ‘the chains’ of B&N, Borders & Waldenbooks in the malls. It seems now the only chain in town survives by acting like an independent bookstore. So basically we’ve come full circle! Hysterical. The old quote ‘do what you love, the money will follow’ seems appropriate.

I also like to believe that as the article mentioned, even in this highly technological society, nothing beats the overwhelming power of the written word on a physical page. Hope that urge never dies out.

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