Good grief!
Borders is taking a strong stance to save brick-and-mortar bookstores from the rising tides of e-books and online retailing: the chain will begin aggressively selling teddy bears to offset declining print book sales.
What?
Yup. According to Bloomberg, Borders has struck a deal with Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., and will sell that company’s build-your-own-stuffed-animal kids and other related products in a special section of Borders stores. Borders CEO Michael Edwards told Bloomberg, “As more books are bought online or in digital format than bought at retail, it creates really the ultimate strategic challenge in terms of redefining the bookstore…We are totally rethinking it.”
What do you think of this rethinking?
Pingback: This Week in Links: 8/29/2010 – 9/4/2010 « A Novel Pursuit
This is so sad. I don’t see how turning a brick and mortar bookstore into a toy store is going to save anything.
B&M Bookstores aren’t going to go away, merely change with the times. Sure, Barnes & Noble offers lots of ereader options, because they are embracing the future instead of hiding from it. I generally prefer ebooks for convenience, but that doesn’t mean I stop buying paper books. I have multiple copies of my favorites for gifts or just to have, and some book formats don’t translate well into ebooks.
Poetry loses formatting and structure when font sizes are changed, picture books, coffee table books, kids books that have gimmicks inside… those things won’t go away. But when a huge new market is opening up, bookstores will either fill niche markets (like my favorite independant store), embrace the new market, or lose to the competition. I don’t want to see Borders go away, but with strategies like this it’s hard to argue that they’re really trying to stay.
Pingback: Should Borders Sell “Refurbished” Books? | Olala Books
Pingback: Should Borders Sell “Refurbished” Books? « PWxyz
Pingback: Borders Reduces E-reader to | Olala Books
Pingback: Borders Reduces E-reader to $99 « PWxyz
I agree with several of the comments made here: Borders doesn’t need any more non-book junk…it’s already hard to find the books in a Borders, and the children’s section is the worst of all.
Author talks/signings are a great way to get people into a bookstores, but there’s one big caveat: many bookstores seem to think that a sign on the door is sufficient advertising. Result: the only people who come are regular customers, people who come to the store ANYWAY.
The smartest thing to do is to embrace the technology that people are using to promote your business…..bookstores, chains and independants, would do well to have a website that had details of booksignings/author tours that could be searched by state/city.
It’s true that some authors/bookstores/publishers have sites that promote authors on tour, but it’s very hit or miss. The competitive nature of wanting YOUR OWN bookstore/author/publisher to be the one that scoops up all the attention and sales makes the thought of a site that is so inclusive pretty cringe-making, but given the state of book sales today, the words of Ben Franklin seem particularly apropos: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we will all hang separately.”
Having just attended a book signing at a borders, I can attest to the fact that _some_ authors can bring in 20 ot 30 people. Or more. Unfortunately, the author I had never heard of who was also there, didn’t. I’m sure she was lovely and writes a nice book, but she didn’t get her readers there. She herself was not a draw. The 50 or so copies by the author I went to see went so fast, she’s planning a second trip when more of her books come in. Having an author nobody knows won’t draw a crowd and most bookstores (big chains or not) can’t always afford to get the names that can.
Pingback: Borders Bookstores are the greatest!!!1!!1! « Condalmo.
They don’t need bears, toys, or other nicknacks. If they want to attract people to their stores, they need to embrace the one thing that e-books and e-readers can’t do: Introduce the public to the authors. You can’t get an autograph on an e-book. Even the least-known writers can pull twenty to thirty paying customers into a book store. Of those, if even a couple buy other books while they’re there, they’ve helped improve the store’s bottom line. My opinion is to dance with who brought you: The writers. Bring them in for signings, quit making them feel like they have to beg to get face time with the fans. And let the fans make those personal connections with writers. It’s good for everyone, because, not only are they buying books, but they now feel that they have a vested interest in the writer’s career.
Just my unsolicited $.02…
It seems like a simple equation. If they haven’t done so yet, they’d be advised to do a study on what percentage of their customer base they lost because those people purchased an e-reader. Chances are if a person can afford an e-reader and e-books, Borders is not going to sway them with a teddy bear. They should go after a new customer base.
Those people with e-readers bought e-readers for three reasons: convenience of carrying their library in one device, to save bookshelf space, and because they have the money. Borders should offer to buy all of those people’s left over books sitting on their shelves at higher prices than they’re valued at according to top used book stores and used book websites. Then, they turn around, and create a new customer base of those people who normally couldn’t afford a $20.00 book by selling “refurbished” books that are “Slightly used” or “Just like new” at prices slightly higher than the used book store down the road. Borders has the space to house more used books than most of those used book stores and they have the technology to catalogue those books to make it easier for people to do their used book shopping their.
Since most of their new customer base will be students, they tell those students they’ll buy the book back at 50% if they bring it back (without highlighting, writing, etc). This will work for majors, such as Lit majors, who are many times required to read novels opposed to text books. This will allow Borders to create residual capital. If they originally buy a slightly used book that sold at $20 for $5, sell it for $10, buy it back for that $5, resell it at $10, and keep doing that, they’ll soon make a profit. Okay, so I’m not a numbers guy, but I’m sure they could figure it out.
I couldn’t care less about a teddy bear. They need to face the facts that if a person’s spent $200 on an e-reader, they’re not going to put it on the shelf so they can run out and buy a book with a teddy bear that they probably want even less than the book. Just as real estate investors make money off of buying houses for low prices, Borders needs to buy books from the customer base they’ve lost, and create a new customer base from those people who can’t afford an e-reader.
Simple as that,
Erick
seems to me Borders needs to be selling LESS crap, rather than MORE. every time i go in there, it’s more games and apparel and electronics and backpacks and school supplies than the last time. maybe they should rededicate themselves to selling BOOKS?
I think there will be books about the bears.
Will there be books about the bears, the way the American Girl dolls all have books that go with them? Like others, I am all for anything that will save the bookstore, but I don’t want it to turn into a toy store–that doesn’t help at all.
(Does Borders make ANYTHING on their CD section? I never see anyone in ours. They could use that whole area as their bear section in our local Borders store and just be Borders Books and Bears.)
Pingback: Can Bears Save Books? | Olala Books
I don’t know that the teddy bears can save Borders. I <3 Borders and frequent there. Yeesh, I don't know that turning it into a book/toy store will do the trick. Kind of a funky bear too.
I certainly don't want to see my local Borders disappear either though.
Lisa ~ YA Literature Lover
This makes me nostalgic for Billy Bass from the 90s.
Whatever it takes to keep Borders stores open, I am all for it. They have plenty of room in the current stores for lots more. Will they now be called “Borders Books, Music and Bears?”
Maybe improving all of the children’s fare will help re-brand Borders to be more of destination for consumers. A good place to take kids on a rainy day? A good place to buy educational materials? Birthday parties?