The NYT celebrated Passover and Easter with a charming if tortured fable about Barnes & Noble that somehow hinges on a movie from 1998 and a lot of myth making. On a factual basis, the story is a modest update to a similar story from the New York Post that ran last September and in a crazy coincidence that surely has nothing to do with a $50 billion hedge fund looking to prepare the ground for an exit is paralleled by a story in the Financial Times. Barnes & Noble says its store sales “were up 3 percent last year […]
Bookstores
Bookselling: B&N Cheyenne to Move to Unknown Location
The Barnes & Noble in Cheyenne, WY will move to a temporary location in Frontier Mall this Spring, and a permanent location next year. The last day at its current address is May 15, and store manager Gage Nix told Cap City News that the store doesn’t yet know where in the mall the temporary location will be. In a letter posted throughout the current location, the store said, “the landlord has made the decision to redevelop the space and has opted not to renew our lease.” As with other B&N moves, the letter asks for location ideas to be emailed […]
Bookselling: Barnes & Noble Opens Temporary Store In Bismarck, ND
Barnes & Noble has opened a temporary location in the Kirkwood Mall in Bismarck, ND. The store is run by the same team who ran the store at Southridge Center, which closed February 20. The company expects to find a new location and build out a new store for opening some time in 2023.
Canadian Government Allocates $32 Million to Support Online Bookselling
Minister of Canadian Heritage the Honorable Pablo Rodriguez announced The Support for Booksellers initiative, intended to help Canadian bookstores increase their ability to sell books online as a result of the pandemic. Part of the Canada Book Fund, which supports books by Canadian authors, the initiative will give $32.1 million to bookstores over two years, “for expenses related to online book sales and to help these bookstores improve their online business models.” “During the pandemic, Canadians bought more Canadian books, proving that our authors and publishers are more important than ever in sharing our stories,” Rodriguez said. “Our government is proud to […]
At ABA Snow Days, Booksellers Imagine the Future
In the opening keynote at ABA’s virtual bookselling conference Snow Days, How to Imagine the Future of Bookselling, booksellers engaged in “mental time travel” to practice imaging the future of the industry. Jane McGonigal, author of Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything—Even Things that Seem Impossible Today, discussed the benefits of imagining the future, recognized that previously unthinkable things have happened, and explained how imagining the future contributes to mental well-being and can help people “plan and prepare” what’s coming. McGonigle also walked viewers through exercises in mental time travel. In one, attendees were […]
Bookselling: B&N Edgewood to Close
The Barnes & Noble in the Edgewood Retail District in Atlanta will close on April 3, as the landlord has decided not to renew their lease. In an announcement posted to their Twitter, the store said, “We loved being part of this community and will do everything we can to find a new location.” The announcement goes on to state, “We proudly serve America with over 600 bookstores in every U.S. state and are actively opening newly designed stores in communities across the country.”