lokisnow Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/barnes-noble-hangs-up-for-sale-sign/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6a&linkId=57708637 TL;DR, Barnes & Noble is going to be put on the auction block. As everyone will pedantically comment, this was an inevitable step in the unrelenting Amazon Murder March. The big indicator this was coming was at the beginning of the year, though, when B&N fired all their managers and salaried positions nationwide and replaced some of them with hourly employees (aka the Circuit City approach to store management in times of crisis). Partly this sale is motivated because an unknown buyer is hoovering up B&N shares of late. *** I wonder if it is apple buying up the shares? They could carve an apple store into every B&N, give the middle finger to amazon, integrate Nook and ibooks, and be a "responsible steward and participant" in communities around the country--which is a nice contrast to Amazon's anti-community sociopath approach of bringing the gift of permanent unemployment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 There's a fair amount of irony in this given what B&N did to local bookstores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone and Quite Forgotten Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 1 hour ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: There's a fair amount of irony in this given what B&N did to local bookstores. The little fish gets eaten by the medium fish, gets eaten by the big fish, gets eaten by the shark, and then the shark gets tangled up in a tire and starves to death while we all watch with a smug sense of self-righteous judgment at the way everyone else is just sitting there and allowing the creature to die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 "You've Got Mail" was in heavy rotation on cable a few weeks ago and my wife and I couldn't help but marvel at the premise of the big bad megabookstore crushing everything in its path. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 28 minutes ago, Let's Get Kraken said: The little fish gets eaten by the medium fish, gets eaten by the big fish, gets eaten by the shark, and then the shark gets tangled up in a tire and starves to death while we all watch with a smug sense of self-righteous judgment at the way everyone else is just sitting there and allowing the creature to die. ??? I supported local bookstores until they ceased to exist in this area. I still like one up in Spartanburg (I'm moving to Greenville and will be delighted to be only 20 minutes from Hub City Books as opposed to an hour and 15 minutes as I am now). I'm confused by your point here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone and Quite Forgotten Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 6 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: ??? I supported local bookstores until they ceased to exist in this area. I still like one up in Spartanburg (I'm moving to Greenville and will be delighted to be only 20 minutes from Hub City Books as opposed to an hour and 15 minutes as I am now). I'm confused by your point here? Oh, I didn't know that I'd quoted you. That comment was just directed at the topic in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Fuck shit ass tits. B&N is literally the ONLY BOOKSTORE we have left here. If it closes I am FUCKED. FUCKED I SAY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lokisnow Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 Other than used bookstores, In my childhood I never lived in an area diverse or large enough to have non corporate book stories. The midwestern malls of my youth had b dalton and Walden bookstores, and those corporate stores were put out of business in the late nineties by other corporate bookstores like B&N, Borders, Hastings, and Books a Million. so I don’t have any rich white people guilt at bookstores going extinct that never existed in my proximity anyway. It’s always only been corporate in my experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 If you live in South Carolina Hub City books in Spartanburg is worth the trip. They are a not for profit bookstore run by Hub City Press. I always stop by when I’m in the area. And I be in the area much more frequently very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone and Quite Forgotten Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 47 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said: Fuck shit ass tits. B&N is literally the ONLY BOOKSTORE we have left here. If it closes I am FUCKED. FUCKED I SAY. But think of the book sales of they go out of business... I see independent/used bookstores making a comeback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 17 minutes ago, Let's Get Kraken said: But think of the book sales of they go out of business... I see independent/used bookstores making a comeback. The independent bookstore in my old (admittedly artsy and bohemian) corner of Los Angeles has stayed afloat by being very much a part of the community, cultivating regulars, and having a lot of events to drive people into the store. That's how the small stores survive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liver and Onions Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 We have a Half Price Books in our area, and it does pretty good business. I do hope that Barnes and Noble can be salvaged, since there's just something fun about going into a bookstore. I drop by the local B&N when I can to check out their collectibles, magazines, and yes, the books. I still miss Borders and Waldenbooks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 26 minutes ago, Liver and Onions said: We have a Half Price Books in our area, and it does pretty good business. I do hope that Barnes and Noble can be salvaged, since there's just something fun about going into a bookstore. I drop by the local B&N when I can to check out their collectibles, magazines, and yes, the books. I still miss Borders and Waldenbooks. I miss Borders so much I could cry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liver and Onions Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 19 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said: I miss Borders so much I could cry. We had a Waldenbooks in the local mall, and a Borders a few towns over. I'd forgo Amazon for these stores for single book purchases due to shipping costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 I just love to browse. Plus the Borders here had an AWESOME history section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 I hope nothing happens to it. I'm finally about to break even on savings with my membership card for the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuenjato Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Dunno if Amazon would want to deal with the fixed costs, but they could open B&N clones across the country. It would solidify their stranglehold on the big six. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThinkerX Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 The last chain bookstore here died decades ago. For a long while, the local Safeway kept a long aisle of books, but that shrank to nearly nothing a few years back. What we have is one local bookstore dealing in new tomes (that seems to be doing reasonably well), one religious bookshop that is hanging on by its fingernails, and two used bookstores. I started ordering most of my books ten or twelve years ago. I have since switched to mostly kindle. That said, I expect local (niche) bookshops to be making a comeback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Sigh. I do so love visiting (and buying from) bookstores. Just what we need - another big store sitting empty. I guess I better use my gift card up, like, SOON. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 6 hours ago, Triskjavikson said: Book Soup? Skylight? Skylight. But I bought my first copy of Lord of the Rings there when it was Chatterton's Books. Book Soup is nice too. That's where I met Hunter S. Thompson when he was doing a book signing to support his first volume of letters, and I ended up giving him and Johnny Depp directions to the Palladium for the porn convention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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