They have proven far more prescient and flexible, as a corporate culture, than just about anyone else involved in the traditional book business. Diversifying into the more stable university bookstore business is another smart effort they've made, for instance. It's just not going to be enough, I don't think -- not when they're competing with an entity that has, you know, basically no weaknesses whatsoever. If I even told you how many of my students buy their textbooks from Amazon instead of the beautiful Barnes & Noble university bookstore we have ...B. Justin Shier said:Heavy, They are a brick and mortar retailer with tons of expensive leases and human overhead. They just survived one of the worst American recessions in decades, one that swallowed their competitor Borders whole. In the middle of this catastrophe, and while under intense competitive pressure from Amazon, they still managed to release award-winning eInk readers and LCD tablets despite having no history of designing electronic devices. Yes, their website is horrific, but they've still managed to grab approx. 20% of the US eReading market. The same cannot be said for Apple or Kobo or Sony.
I'm not happy with where B&N is, I think they could have done a better job anticipating the rise of eReading, but I can appreciate the many challenges their leaders are facing.
B.
I noticed that B&N was becoming the university bookstore of choice. It's not a bad idea. But I'm impressed that they've made it through the recession this far. I actually like my Nook! I'm surprised more people don't have them, but Amazon's brand recognition is ridiculously good.Becca Mills said:Diversifying into the more stable university bookstore business is another smart effort they've made, for instance.