Local Barnes & Noble Not shelving as many hardcovers

[Jeffrey]

Barnes & Noble now devotes a lot more space to toys. They clearly are trying to get the borders crowd. The Nook presence also takes away floor space. The result -- less space for fantasy and sf. I have now noticed that my local BN did not have the following books at all:

Cold Commands by Richard Morgan
The Shattered Vine by Gilman
Skirmish by Michelle West

I guess maybe because they do not think will sell. Anyone else notice this lately.

[Sandra]

Jeffrey wrote: "Barnes & Noble now devotes a lot more space to toys. They clearly are trying to get the borders crowd. The Nook presence also takes away floor space. The result -- less space for fantasy and sf...."

Yes. Not a bad idea in theory, as ebooks swell in sales.

[Justin]

From what I've read, they're actually been improving their sales by including a lot of non-book items - making it slightly more generic so people can purchase other things while they purchase their books.

[Pauline]

Not only that they added an entire new section devoted strictly to "Teen Paranormal Romance". I was completely taken aback the last time I went into one of their stores and an entire shelf of the Sci-fi/fantasy section had been cut out.

I was not pleased at all...

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

I've noticed that BN tends not to have the less known/popular authors such as Laura Anne Gilman in stock by default. Or Mark Del Franco. Or Sherwood Smith. Or Moira J. Moore. (Just some examples I ran into in the last few months.)

I'm probably in the minority here, but I actually preferred shopping in the local Borders. Now that BN is the only local option I'm less likely to go there and browse, especially since I know they're less likely to have the things I'm looking for.

[Janny]

It's a definite. Sadly. Confirmed by the customer service desk, last time I visited (Friday) - they are pushing the Nook and e sales, and very much cutting back on what new books they will shelve.

I had to order quite a few brand new releases, and I inquired about others (not on the shelf) and their computer record showed the titles were in the warehouse but not slated for shelving in the stores.

Sad. The art of browsing takes another hit. This is sad, because that is how I choose to read debuts - I browse the actual book in the store to get a feel for the author's style and my connection to their story.

[Jon]

It's been months since I set foot in an actual bookstore (and the last one was a Barnes & Noble).

I'm following so many 'feeds' of information, funneling to me electronically, based on my own preferences (filtering), that I get plenty of ideas for my next book purchase. I admit, many of the recommendations come from right here, at GoodReads, either via my friends or the online book clubs.

I haven't missed the bookstore. I wasn't ever much of a browser. I sometimes fly by the 'new releases' shelf at the library when I pickup a book I've placed on hold, but I rarely see anything I haven't already heard about (or read already).

[Justin]

Jon wrote: "It's been months since I set foot in an actual bookstore (and the last one was a Barnes & Noble).

I'm following so many 'feeds' of information, funneling to me electronically, based on my own pre..."


I basically do the same thing, Jon. Most of the books on my to-read shelf are based on reviews from here, Amazon, and some friends.

[Alisha]

I'm one of the few people I know that still go to the bookstore at least once a week. It's easier for my kids to find a book they will like if they can look at it. They're still kinda young, so whatever they pick will usually take them 2 to 3 weeks to read. Also, since I homeschool, I pick up a lot of workbooks and things from Books A Million. It's the only bookstore we have here, but if what you guys are saying is true about Barnes & Noble, I'm kinda glad. I think my kids would be lost if they weren't able to browse the shelves! Our Books A Million still stocks a lot, and you can order anything else and have it to pick up in store in a week or so. It's easier and cheaper then using amazon, because I never have to pay shipping and I get a discount for buying their membership.

[Pauline]

Snail in Danger (Sid) wrote: "I've noticed that BN tends not to have the less known/popular authors such as Laura Anne Gilman in stock by default. Or Mark Del Franco. Or [author:Sherwood Smith|..."

I preferred Borders over B&N too. I really liked their book selection in comparison. I was really sad to see them go.

I also love Books a Million--unfortunately there isn't a branch near me :/

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

I like BAMs but there aren't any very nearby. Closest one is an hour and a half away in a different state, and I don't visit that town more than once a year, if that.

I have considered independent bookstores, but the ones in my town are either not in places I go to frequently, or specialize in genres I'm not that interested in.

The thing I miss most about Borders is that you could order something from the web site and have it shipped to a store and not pay any shipping costs. Last I checked, BN hasn't made this possible. (Not having to go to a store or make a phone call to arrange this was nice.)

[Sandra]

But BN has free shipping if you're a member. And the website prices are lower than the store, most of the time. At least they were last time I checked. This seems rather silly to me if they want to promote their brick and mortar stores.

[Experiment BL626]

I noticed this too. The toys are not just limited to the children's area, but it's now outside of the area too... and slowly expanding like some sort of plague.

I don't mind the Nook area, nor do I mind the Teen PNR since I read that genre. But I do mind — extremely so — the graphic novels area. They're there no more. And aack, the SciFi/Fantasy area has shortened. Also gone are the sofas and chairs.

I hope B&N knows what they're doing... because it doesn't seem so to me. They're becoming more of a toystore and giftshop than a bookstore.

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

I know, Sandra, but I haven't decided if membership is worth it. I had a Borders membership, and I had a free trial BN membership for a few months. But when you come down to it the percentage of books I buy versus the percentage of books I get from the library is pretty small ... and getting smaller now that it's less plausible to have either the excitement of going to a bookstore on release day and buying the book I've been waiting to read for months, or the thrill of finding something new and exciting that I hadn't heard about.

Honestly I haven't even figured out if BN is the best non-Amazon place to shop for new books online. But there don't seem to be a lot of options for that. (I prefer to avoid giving my money to Amazon whenever possible.)

[Sandra]

Snail in Danger (Sid) wrote: "I know, Sandra, but I haven't decided if membership is worth it. I had a Borders membership, and I had a free trial BN membership for a few months. But when you come down to it the percentage of ..."

Me, too, re Amazon. I buy a lot of books. I've gone to the library and borrowed books many times, but usually later regret not having the book myself.

[Julia]

I have Amazon membership, at one time I had a B & N membership and I had Borders too. I've got no new bookstores in my area. Two terrifc used bookstores, which I go to a lot. I travel an hour to go to an independent bookstore or B & N. I too preferred Borders, it seemed like they had more books and more of what I wanted to buy. I am also a member of my library.

Yeah, I'm addicted to books!

[Pauline]

Experiment wrote: "I noticed this too. The toys are not just limited to the children's area, but it's now outside of the area too... and slowly expanding like some sort of plague.

I don't mind the Nook area, nor do ..."

The Teen PNR section doesn't bother me as much now, but the first time I saw it I was so upset because the scifi/fantasy section was cut for it.

Either way, I'm feeling slightly bummed out about the selection at Barnes and Noble nowadays. It kind of feels like they are heading in the opposite direction of physical books :[