Barnes & Nobles, Borders bookstores closing left and right

[Liberal_in_LA]

Two gigantic ones closed near me. I recall when these bookstores come in and drove the independent booksellers out of business. Now, I guess, Amazon is driving them out of business.

Anyone remember Bookstar?

[spanone]

1. the digital world is eating the world i grew up in.....

oh well

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. The big bookstore chains ate the world I grew up in - the independent bookstores

[Horse with no Name]

6. Yep

Tit for tat.

[spanone]

16. yep, saw that too....bigger is not better.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. the 2 los angeles ones that are closing are HUGE. the two story kind.

they take up half the block

[JI7]

2. i think indies might be making a comeback with used bookstores

they don't have to worry about competition from places like Amazon. and the books are so cheap that people would buy books they might not have otherwise considered if it cost more.

i usually pick up something at used bookstores . books i never heard of before but they might seem interesting . and since they are cheap i don't feel like i would be wasting money if the book is bad. you can also bring the book back to the stores so they can sell it again.

[bobbolink]

4. That's going to be a bit difficult if books are no longer published.

:cry:

[JI7]

12. books last pretty long and i don't think they will no longer be published

while ebooks will do well. i don't think the market will go out for the paperbooks. i think it will be similar to the movies in theaters . where some thought the television would make theaters go out of business but it didn't happen.

i know a lot of people who get multiple editions of books they already read. if they love it they like to keep a special hardcover or some other edition in their collections.

i think ebooks will mostly do well with people who travel a lot and similar people who like to read but it's too much to carry around so many books.

libraries didn't hurt the sales of books.

[lolly]

23. Some indies work with Amazon

A lot of the independent sellers on Amazon seem to be used bookstore places. Allows them to reach beyond local buyers.

[alsame]

3. That's sad. I love bookstores and browsing through them. Shopping online

isn't the same at all.

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. the big bookstore seems to be full of coffee drinkers and & laptops

grabbing the free wi-fi. Maybe not enough buying books.

[marybourg]

13. Always seemed like a crazy business plan to me. nt.

[alsame]

19. And in a bad economy, I'm sure books aren't a priority for many. nt

[KamaAina]

8. Especially not for those of us who are at work all day

thus not at home to receive packages, and are in no mood to ride transit across town to UPS.

[Rhiannon12866]

9. Both Barnes and Noble and Borders built huge stores in my hometown.

The small mystery bookstore that I used to frequent closed up shop. The owner said that she was going to sell books online. There also used to be bookstores in the local malls, but they disappeared a long time ago. And there isn't a lot of business at the malls now, either. I do go to Barnes and Noble, though, and they always seem pretty busy, especially around the holidays...

[Liberal_in_LA]

25. The one closing near me sold toys and all stuff. had a starbucks in it.

[Rhiannon12866]

33. The one I go to also has a Starbucks and I think it has a toy section, too.

It's a really nice store and I hope they don't close. I rarely go to Borders, since it's downtown and it's hard to find a place to park. But Barnes and Noble is always quite busy, and is the only bookstore in town, anymore, except for Borders... :(

[walldude]

10. Doing well here... as are many local used bookstores

what I have noticed is Barnes and Borders no longer have any outlet stores. Used to love those. Wasn't Bookstar a chain as well? I remember using them in Vegas they had a store on Paradise Blvd, whenever I had to work in Vegas I would go there...

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. Yes, Bookstar was a chain also.

[JI7]

18. i loved Bookstar and Crown Books, they had no coffee snack section

they were all about the books only. they sold a few other things like bookmarks and some other gift items. but not what you see these days at BN and Borders.

but i remember loving to look at those stores. especially bookstar with the aisles so closely packed with books.i don't get the same feel from BN and Borders.

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. Crown Books! Haven't heard that name for a long time. Next you'll

be mentioning Montgomery Wards and Mervyns. :hi:

[Nye Bevan]

14. Why would I use up gas driving to Barnes and Noble and waste time looking for parking

when I can just go on Amazon and get anything I want, usually cheaper, delivered free of charge on the 2nd day (thanks to my Amazon Prime membership), or better yet, start reading it right now on my Kindle?

Just like travel agents, bricks and mortar bookstores need to adjust to the new reality.

[Lucian]

15. How are they closing left and right if it's just happening near you?

Barnes & Noble are doing great right now. They just came out with a new color nook.

The sky isn't falling quite yet. :)

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. "new color nook" what the heck?

[walldude]

28. The Nook is B&N's version of the Kindle...

Now it's in color...

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. oh. ok

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

17. Good riddance...

Maybe independent bookstores will come back?

I've noticed that Starbucks, after putting a lot of independent coffee shops out of business, actually wound up creating a place where independent coffee shops could thrive. People who may have got turned on to the coffee shop experience by Starbucks realized that starbucks sucked, and sought out "hipper" places. Or whatever.

I wonder if there is a future in that for bookstores? Because, talking in very vague Generalities, the people who really liked the big box bookstores are also probably the people most likely to enjoy the Kindle. Whereas the people who prefer not big-box bookstores, are probably more likely to still prefer the independent bookstores.

Or, maybe not. Maybe now we'll just live in a bleak world where the marketplace has decided that all reading must be done on screens.

[tpsbmam]

21. I actually try to buy from B&N when I order online....

don't know if it still holds true but B&N was on the Buy Blue list -- as I recall, most of their political contributions went to Democrats.

[asjr]

26. I remember a bookstore in Knoxville Tn that would

let me know when the latest Nancy Drew mystery would come in to the store. Now that was eons ago but I still recall and was grateful.

[walldude]

31. Hate to say it but Barns and Borders will do the same thing

Granted they have put some independent sellers out of business, but as far as "chains" go the bookstores do it right. Both the Barns and Borders near me have plenty of comfortable seating, and free WiFi, they don't harass their customers, you can sit there all day and read without buying anything, and they have great employees who are happy to do whatever they need to to help you.

[asjr]

27. I remember a bookstore in Knoxville Tn that would

let me know when the latest Nancy Drew mystery would come in to the store. Now that was eons ago but I still recall and was grateful.

[Hawkeye-X]

30. We still have Tattered Cover, still going as strong as ever.

Two locations, one in downtown, and one on Colfax St.

Sure, the books there may be MSRP, but at least they WILL get the book for you if they don't have it handy.

http://tatteredcover.com/

Hawkeye-X

[high density]

32. A music store near me recently expanded and added a book section

Their prices are very competitive, unlike Borders and B&N.