Barnes & Noble will open 30 stores in 2023

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope they will open the traditional stores again. I hate the new minimal design like the one in Rockville because it is soulless like the now-defunct Amazon books.

I spread buying between indy stores, Amazon, and B&N. $ at indy stores helps local economies and authors. Amazon helps more authors because I can buy more books. B&N is important because they carry (or used to) so many specialty books that have trouble getting traction online because you have no way of knowing about them.

IMO they all have different values.

I would be lying if I said I didn't give Amazon tons of my money, but I try not to when it comes to books.

You can go to indiebound.org and find an independent bookstore near you to order it from. Or if you don't mind a used book, you can search World of Books for a carbon neutral purchasing experience.

You can even buy e-books through your local bookstore.

I think B&N also has a place because it can afford to stock more books than your average indie store. They can provide a fun place for the whole family to visit, like Target but for books, lol.

[Anonymous]

I like that B&N has lots of toys. Since there are hardly any toy stores any more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want to support them but when I recently took my daughter there, almost every book she picked was about $5 more in store (prices were ~$13 in store vs $8 on Amazon)…. I just couldn’t justify buying more than a few locally and ordered the rest online. But glad they are having success, reading is great.

It's called inflation. It affects more than just groceries and car prices. You don't have to spend money but it's not unreasonable for books to cost more now than when we were kids.

As for books being cheaper on Amazon, sometimes. That's been the Amazon model for decades - undercut competitors and put them out of business. So supporting predatory pricing is a benefit for you. For a while.

This. Amazon cross-subsidizes some products with profits from other products. That's been disastrous for all bookstores, not just Barnes and Noble. Also, the way cross-subsidizing works is that the it's done to drive competitors out of business and then the cross-subsidizer will raise its prices back up to cover costs again. It's predatory, as pp says.

Amazon was obviously taking notes while Barnes and Nobles used similar practices decades ago — loss leaders until the independent booksellers folded, then most of the discounts disappeared. I lived on the UWS in NYC — and I’m still bitter, even though in other cities the Barnes and Nobles is often the best option.

That sounds like the plot From You’ve Got Mail!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really want to support them but when I recently took my daughter there, almost every book she picked was about $5 more in store (prices were ~$13 in store vs $8 on Amazon)…. I just couldn’t justify buying more than a few locally and ordered the rest online. But glad they are having success, reading is great.

This is true about pricing, and pre-pandemic I did the same, but a lot of bookstores have closed over the past 10 years (including the large B&N in Bethesda and on Rockville Pike), so now I pay bookstore prices and view it as I am paying a little more in order to have the enjoyable in person bookstore browsing experience which is priceless to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish there were more independent bookstores

there are still quite a few independent bookstores- loyalty, solid state, politics and prose off the top of my head. Barnes and Nobes doesnt hurt local book shops, amazon does

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want to support them but when I recently took my daughter there, almost every book she picked was about $5 more in store (prices were ~$13 in store vs $8 on Amazon)…. I just couldn’t justify buying more than a few locally and ordered the rest online. But glad they are having success, reading is great.

I’m the same - I pick up one or two that I want to read immediately, but order the rest online. I do spend quite awhile browsing.

They will price match online prices - worth looking at their online price and asking.

I don't believe they can do this and survive.

[Anonymous]

I buy from Second Story books. Their warehouse in Rockville is fun. It might be too messy for the pearl clutchers of DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's essentially the Toys R Us of bookstores.

It’s basically become toys r us. Last BN I went to I saw more toys and games than books. It seems like parents bring their kids there to play because there isn’t a dedicated toy store anymore outside of small independent shops.

[Anonymous]

I also don’t care if BN is owned by a hedge fund, as long as it’s a brick and mortar bookstore you can get lost in.

I miss Borders.
Love Politics and Prose but it empties my wallet. Thankfully they seem to be doing well.
Don’t understand how Scrawl gets by. It is small and most of the books are mainstream and what you’d find at BN. But happy they are there.

[Anonymous]

I personally can't wait !!