Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 2 Volume 9 | Page 28
“We do so now with all the more confidence
for being able to draw on the unrivaled
bookselling skills of these two great com-
panies.”
C HAPTERS OF THE B&N S TORY
Barnes & Noble began as a small Manhattan
store selling textbooks, later exploding into
the largest seller of books in the country.
Their hundreds of stores were not just re-
tail bookstores—they evolved into social
experiences. Unfortunately, a long stretch
of bad news followed when Amazon started
on the path to the power it became and
B&N made some really bad decisions plus
high CEO turnover. That made it necessary
to float solution after solution just to keep
its head above the retail surface.
tional incentives, which is in large
contrast to the way American
bookstores have operated.
As detailed in a 2017 story head-
lined “How Waterstones Came Back
from the Dead” in the British news-
paper The Guardian, Daunt closed
underperforming stores and laid off
some 200 workers. But, those who
remained were paid more to make
them more valuable on the selling
floor. Similar actions could be in the
cards for the 600 or so stores B&N
continues to operate.
In reports announcing the B&N pur-
chase, it was stated the two compa-
nies would continue to operate sep-
arately, but hoped both operations
would benefit from the sharing of
best practices. The reports say
about Waterstones' investment in
its physical stores,“readers continue
to value the experience of a great
bookstore.”
So many B&N stores are in or near
malls with similar footprints, it
might e a bit difficult to replicate the
way Waterstones has been effective
in tailoring store size and design to
local markets New independent
bookstores are stressing distinctive
architecture and interiors to set
them apart from online sellers
which could be considered role
models for new stores going for-
ward.
So with the acquisition by Elliot it’s now
about to write its latest chapter, under the
same management as the successful big
British bookstore chain Waterstones.
What James Daunt, the new B&N chief who
also runs Waterstones, will do to turn B&N
around is mostly speculative at this point.
But a look at was done with Waterstones,
and what other worldwide booksellers
around the world have done could provide
a script for that next chapter
Waterstones localized various as-
sortments in the belief that one-
size-does-not-fit-all stores. Individ-
ual managers have great leeway to
tailor their assortments to the local
market. Central management picked
a book of the month, not letting pub-
lishers dictate assortments or min-
imum order sizes based on promo-
S UMMER 2019
P AGE 23
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE