If you haven't stepped foot into a Barnes & Noble since early July, quite a lot has changed. I was there about the 2nd week in July 2010 and back again today, and I can tell you - it is under a massive transformation.
Transformation: They are going to be primarily selling only educational material and will be depleting an enormous amount of their book selection...of which has already been underway for over a month.
Now interestingly enough, this even includes the business section. Three weeks ago when I was in Barnes & Noble - the business/sales/entrepreneur/marketing/management, etc. section was pretty big.
Today, for all these categories combined, it was 3/4 of that. And, except for some new releases, there was only 1 book per title, not the 4-5 you usually see for easy grabbing.
My book wasn't there, and it wasn't at another location either. It's a popular book, but not a new release, so they only keep one copy of it, so if someone grabs it, your out of luck. New releases still show multiple books.
To me, this is very strange, as books in the business section ARE educational - for those involved in business in any way, and especially for business owners, or for individuals who are interested in pursuing their own business.
If you are a business owner like me, this is where you occasionally frequent to pick up select books to continue your growth in this area.
I guess Barnes & Noble defines 'educational' in a different way than a business owner.
I believe Barnes & Noble is a bit short sighted in this area - or shall I say, a tad 'uneducated' on business. If they were current with the times and news, they would know small businesses and entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of America and are what keep America's economy strong.
Moreover, with millions of American's unemployed now due to the economic layoffs- more so than ever - these individuals are considering starting a business, and business books are usually their first starting reads.
Yes, of course, there is a lot you can gather on the internet, but sometimes it's just easier or more helpful for things the specific information you are looking for to have it compiled together in a highly recommended book.
They should remember, not everyone has Kindle, and not everyone had the luxury to purchase an iPad ---in the midst of these economic hard times (I don't have Kindle or an iPad).
So, for me, Amazon will now always get my business, as opposed to 'just on occasion'. It would be interesting to see the hit they take - as they are handing thousands of dollars of business over to Amazon.com instantly.
Yes, you can order online via Barnes & Noble - but why would you do that if Amazon has a much cheaper price? I am not sure how much cheaper - as if you are a B&N member card holder, you get a discount, but I would almost bet Amazon is still a tad bit cheaper. I am not a B&N card holder.
So basically, Barnes & Noble is transforming their store to reflect the success of Kindle - they have found more of their customers are on this than buying books now - and they are both streamlining and changing their product line so they can appeal to their customer's needs and desires more - which, if they are undergoing such a massive transformation, is clearly leaning towards educational material.
But remember, they don't think business books are educational material.
LOL....or just sad.
They might be back to the drawing board about this one, this time next year.
Until they change this, they have, officially as of today, lost me as a customer.
I congratulate them on their foresight to jump in quite quickly on a very significant hot topic - which isn't a trend by any means - its a Revitalization...the revitalization of education.
Each day, America leaders, Government, and ChangeAgents are placing the utmost importance on this topic again.
And it seems Barnes & Noble thought that unless they become akin to a school or university library, they might be out of business.
So, since they couldn't expand their physical space in each location, they chose to deplete a lot of their book selections to make room for the influx of educational material that will now be their primary product line - as you can see prevalently when you are in their store today, vs just even 3 weeks ago.
So now that you have read this - go pop on over to Barnes & Noble - well, unless you are interested in Business or Sales/Mktg books. :) Then I suggest you just stay put and open up Amazon.com.
Either way, I encourage you to read - learn and grow and really enjoy whatever you are reading and learning this month!
Jaxi :)
