By John Talty: Subscribe to John's RSS feed
July 19, 2011 4:27 PM EDT
Borders is closing, lending some to question what the impact will be on Barnes & Noble, America's largest national bookstore chain.
Among the leading reasons cited in Borders' failure is that the company's large brick and mortar stores didn't sell enough items to pay for costly rents, considering Borders stores averaged 25,000 square feet in many prime locations.
Even though Barnes & Noble doesn't appear anywhere close to liquidation status, the company still faces stiff headwinds blowing in a changing book retail environment that leans toward digital product, not hardcover books sold in brick and mortar stores.
So the question becomes in light of Borders' closing: Can Barnes & Noble succeed with hundreds of superstore bookstores spread across America?
IBTimes decided to check out the Barnes & Noble closest to our office in New York to find out just how much customer traffic and purchases are made in one of the nation's biggest markets at a store on a given day.
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During a one hour time period selected, between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., IBTimes observed a Barnes & Noble store in the Tribeca area. In that time frame, 24 customers purchased a product according to the unofficial count.
That's compared to approximately 150 people that walked in and out of the store during that time period.
Among the most interesting observations was the amount of women that came in with young children. During the one hour time period, 48 women, some mothers and some nannies, came into the 36,000 square feet store. The majority wheeled in strollers with children under the age of five along for the ride.
Most striking was that only six of the 48 women that came in actually bought anything.
The majority apparently brought children in for "Storybook Time," which according to one Barnes & Noble employee, is meant to encourage reading, and is not targeted at generating sales.
Too Big a Space, Too Many Products, Too Little Buying Customers
Scattered throughout the store was a large children's book section, and a large movie and CD section. The movie and television section was well-stocked, with many options, including a fairly large Western movie section. But even with all the options, pricing was an issue for one customer.
A middle-aged man came and asked about the pricing of "The Wire" DVD series. After learning the price, he remarked that he could actually buy it even cheaper on Barnes & Noble's Web site through a third-party vendor.
Customers seemed to enjoy their experience in the store, even if they weren't buying products. With comfy chairs and plenty of open tables throughout the store, Barnes & Noble makes it very comfortable for consumers to relax and hang out, and people weren't shy about doing just that.
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