Barnes & Noble plans to reduce outlets over the decade by 33%

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters

Barnes & Noble Inc expects to shut down as many as a third of its retail stores over the next decade, Mitchell Klipper, chief executive of the company's retail group, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.

"In 10 years we'll have 450 to 500 stores," Klipper told the Journal. The company had 689 retail stores as of January 23, along with a separate chain of 674 college stores. Even with 450 to 500 stores, "it's a good business model," Klipper told the WSJ.

"You have to adjust your overhead, and get smart with smart systems. Is it what it used to be when you were opening 80 stores a year and dropping stores everywhere? Probably not. It's different. But every business evolves," Klipper said.

Barnes & Noble, which had enjoyed a sales bump after one-time rival Borders Group liquidated in 2011, reported a 10.9 percent decrease in sales at its bookstores and on its website over the holiday period.

Read more: http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/barnes-noble-plans-reduce-outlets-over-decade-wsj-053033256--finance.html

[AllyCat]

1. After killing off the indy book market, they will now kill off themselves.

Why do we believe business is good at running everything?

[Warren Stupidity]

10. indeed.

[Renew Deal]

2. Didn't Microsoft buy them or buy into them?

[Eleanors38]

3. Betcha it will take 'em less than ten yrs.

[ginnyinWI]

4. I hope they keep their online store!

At Christmas I was able to order three kids' books from them, at an average cost of $4 less than they were selling for on Amazon.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

5. No! The one chain store I actually ENJOY going to.

Meanwhile my Nook that I was given for Christmas collects dust.

I know there are some people claiming karma for the big chain store running off the tiny little bookstores, but B&N truly is the best place for me to go on my lunch break. The tiny stores just couldn't offer me the same ambieance.

[marmar]

6. I try to avoid chain stores, but I actually hold a soft spot for the megabookstores....

....... just because I enjoyed sitting on the couches and browsing for hours.....I much preferred Border's though -- their inventory was always much bigger than B&N.
But maybe this will result in a renaissance of indy bookstores.

[Nye Bevan]

7. "In 10 years we'll have 450 to 500 stores".

Now there's optimism. Would anyone be surprised if in 10 years they have zero stores?

[cstanleytech]

8. Wouldnt surprise me and to be honest I dont blame them.

Keeping the current number of stores open is a drain on money for them and puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to competing against Amazon, in fact I was telling my brother early last year that I would not be surprised if they would close all their stores and partner with other businesses like Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts for example.

[sofa king]

9. I wonder about that.

Isn't Barnes & Noble the last of the big-box book stores? They might actually have trouble dying because of the enormous physical stock of books to which they must lay claim.

Those are assets that would have to be liquidated to kill the company, but the books were already bought at a certain cost and now they have to be sold for more than that just to pay for the storage up to now. There are no other big-box retail stores to take the load off, and online bookstores won't want to pay the premium for them when they can buy current production for less.

So maybe they can't die.

[cstanleytech]

12. They arent "killing the company" though.

At least not yet, that of course could change.
Right now it reads as if they are trying to reposition themselves to be able to compete better against Amazon which doesnt have the financial burden of physical stores.

[liberal N proud]

11. 1/3rd or 33% seems to be the magic number companies always reduce by

Why is that such a magical number for companies?

I am working for a company that is currently reducing workforce by 1/3. I have noticed that seems to be the number they all pull out of their ass when they are chopping jobs.