Bookstores are slowly diminishing and it seems that Barnes & Noble is jumping on this bandwagon. The largest bookstore chain is planning to cut 30% of its stores within the next 10 years. They currently have 689 stores and this will go down to between 450 and 500 stores.
With e-books and e-readers bookstores are struggling to stay afloat. Barnes & Noble caught wind of this technology just in time to stay on top of the game. By developing the Nook e-reader the bookstore chain was able to stay in business unlike its counterpart Borders.
They slowly dominated smaller bookstores and put them out of business, but as more and more people decide to buy an e-reader their revenue is dropping. In 2011, their revenues had dropped by 10% because of the 8.2% drop in sale stores. When they were at their peak in 2008 they had 726 stores operating all around the country; so there is a clear decline. (mashable.com)
The New York Times reports that the CEO of the company, William Lynch says, “Barnes & Noble is, in fact, a technology company. Never mind that it has 703 bookstores and operates in all 50 states. Our stores are not going anywhere.”
Even though the number of stores are decreasing they are still trying to give the ones that are standing a new look. The toys and games sections are getting an upgrade and there are sections within the bookstores that are specifically for the Nook. It is apparent that only time will tell the fate of Barnes & Noble. (nytimes.com)