Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 2 Volume 9 | Page 29

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Barnes & Noble has taken some of
the steps to create more of an in-
store experience already. They
opened a number of hospitality sec-
tions within their stores, including
coffee shops, snack bars, cocktail
lounges and even full sit-down res-
taurants. One new store in Austin,
Texas, devotes nearly half its space
to non-book activities.
Still, Amazon has a commanding market
share augmented by 19 physical stores. Re-
ports on Waterstones' turnaround say little
about its digital efforts. However, Daunt
says the worst is over in the competition
with e-commerce. “There are limits to the
online experience,” he told The Financial
.
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
Times when the deal was announced. “In
the world of books it is as good as it can be.
We endured the fire, and it forced us to
dramatically improve our shops and raise
our game.”
Nevertheless, Barnes & Noble’s new own-
ers will have their hands full turning
around the operation in an extremely com-
petitive marketplace. “You have to be fo-
cused,” Daunt said in that Financial Times
interview. “You can’t drift off and be writ-
ing poetry in your head.”
P AGE 24
S UMMER 2019