Borders Failure Is a Small Part of Bigger Phenomenon
Today I was on NPR’s Morning Edition, offering my take on the Borders’ liquidation. Click here to listen. Many of my colleagues insist Borders’ failure had nothing to do with…
Today I was on NPR's Morning Edition, offering my take on the Borders' liquidation.
Many
of my colleagues insist Borders' failure had nothing to do with
e-books. Yes, bad management played a big role here. Borders has been a
weak player for years, and it's survival of the fittest out there.
But even Barnes & Noble is scaling back their bricks-and-mortar presence and focusing on e-books and online sales.
I love what Peter Turner commented on my Facebook post:
Judging from what one hears anecdotally from booksellers, seems like the biggest factor is the change in customer behavior. People are increasingly using bricks & mortar stores as a show case and then go buy online, where Amazon offers the best service. One bookseller told me jokingly that he sold a ton of eBooks. I asked how so, as he isn't part of the Google Books program. He said, "Oh, folks come into the store with their Kindle and iPad, browse the tables, download their eBook, and walk out." B&N has survived all this, but I wouldn't be surprised if they'll be fewer stores with a smaller foot print in their future.
What do you think? Would you invest your money in a
national chain physical bookstore today? If so, what kind?
Jane Friedman is a full-time entrepreneur (since 2014) and has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. She is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest. In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
