Dang it. I love B&N.
The head of Barnes & Noble’s retail group, Mitchel Klipper, said in an interview published Monday in The Wall Street Journal that the company will have 450 to 500 stores in a decade. That’s down from about 689 currently.
I’m sure you can guess the reasons…
The largest traditional U.S. bookstore has been facing tough competition from online retailers and discounters that sell books and has been focusing on its Nook tablet, e-book reader and e-book business for growth.
I can see his point. Ebooks are definitely selling well at Filbert Publishing (my publishing company). But to close a bookstore is always a sad day, IMHO.
Although Barnes & Noble has for the most part stopped opening new stores in the past several years, Keating said New York-based Barnes & Noble opened two new prototype stores in 2012 and plans to test other prototypes in 2013.
Times, they are a changing.
