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Surprise, Barnes & Noble Is Defying Expectations
Surprise, Barnes & Noble
Is Defying Expectations
OPINION

Surprise, Barnes & Noble Is Defying Expectations

Ezra Klein explores how the bookstore chain is experiencing a 'resurgence' these days

(Newser) - In his latest New York Times column, Ezra Klein recalls fond childhood memories of spending endless hours in Barnes & Noble. "It wasn't so much a place to buy books as a place to be among them, for as long as you wanted," he writes. But if...

Why Barnes & Noble Is Beloved Once More
Barnes & Noble
Has, Improbably,
Become a Good Guy
in case you missed it

Barnes & Noble Has, Improbably, Become a Good Guy

The 'New York Times' looks at the chain's much-improved reputation

(Newser) - Barnes & Noble is like a phoenix rising from the ashes—its sales, yes, but more than that, its reputation. Once derided as an independent bookstore killer, the New York Times takes a look at how the chain is regarded these days: as crucial. A key line from Elizabeth A....

Amazon Is Closing 68 Brick-and-Mortar Stores

Company is ditching bookstores, 4-star stores

(Newser) - Amazon is closing all of its brick-and-mortar bookstores, as well as its 4-star shops and pop up locations, as the online retail behemoth reworks its physical footprint. The Seattle-based company said Wednesday that the move, which affects 66 stores in the US and two in the United Kingdom, will enable...

Bookstore Owner Pleads for Help, Gets Huge Response

NYC's Strand bookstore said it was struggling to survive

(Newser) - New Yorkers and book lovers around the country rushed to the rescue after the owner of the city's beloved Strand bookstore warned that it was facing the toughest times in its 93-year history. Owner Nancy Bass Wyden—granddaughter of the store's founder— tweeted Friday that sales were down...

A Bookstore Laid Off Hundreds. Then, This Took Its 'Breath Away'

Powell's, popular indie chain in Oregon, rehires more than 100 workers due to online ordering boom

(Newser) - A popular indie bookstore chain in Portland, Ore., let go most of its staff—more than 300 employees—earlier this month because of the coronavirus outbreak. Now, per the Los Angeles Times , Powell's has hired back more than 100 of those workers, thanks to a surge in buying books...

We Should All Be Worried About Barnes & Noble
We Should All Be Worried
About Barnes & Noble
OPINION

We Should All Be Worried About Barnes & Noble

David Leonhardt: It's in the country's best interest for the chain to thrive

(Newser) - Barnes & Noble is in real danger of disappearing, and that has David Leonhardt of the New York Times worried. This isn't just a case of a corporate giant being unable to keep up with the new age, he writes. It's the result of a misguided government policy...

Original Stephen King Manuscripts, Rare Books Lost in 'Devastating Blow'

Gerald Winters says 90% of inventory destroyed at rare-books store after water main burst in Bangor

(Newser) - When Gerald Winters recently decided to reorganize his rare-books store in Bangor, Maine, housing a collection mainly dedicated to Stephen King, he stashed most of his inventory in the basement. He's now suffered what the Bangor Daily News describes as a "devastating blow" to his business: A water...

Charity Shop Slammed With Copies of Da Vinci Code

14 years later, we apparently still have some copies to unload

(Newser) - The Da Vinci Code has sold so many copies—that would be at least 80 million —that it's bound to turn up in book donation piles. But at one charity shop in the UK, it's been donated so heavily that the shop has posted a sign propped...

Bookstore to Customers: Put Your Phone Away

Owner says customers appreciate the quiet

(Newser) - Looking for a respite from the constant presence of mobile devices in the world around you? Look no further than Wind City Books in Casper, Wyo.,, where a sign on the door proudly proclaims that the store has no WiFi, and asks customers to leave smartphones, tablets, laptops, and the...

Bookstore-Slayer Amazon Plans 400 ... Bookstores?

It could become country's second-biggest chain

(Newser) - Amazon is reportedly planning to become one of those things that thrived before the rise of Amazon: a chain of bookstores. Sandeep Mathrani, CEO of mall company General Growth Properties, spilled the beans on Tuesday when the Wall Street Journal asked him about developments in the mall business. "You'...

'Isis' Bookstore: Please Stop Vandalizing Us

Colorado shop got hit again last weekend

(Newser) - A Denver-area store called Isis Books & Gifts wants the world to know its name comes from the Egyptian goddess of healing and motherhood and it isn't run by terrorists. Co-owner Jeff Harrison says the suburban Denver shop has been vandalized five times in the past year or so,...

Amazon Just Made 2 Surprising Moves

Expanded parental leave and a shiny new Seattle bookstore

(Newser) - New moms and dads at Amazon have a new perk: six weeks of fully paid leave, CNNMoney reports. Birth mothers will get an additional four weeks before their due date, plus 10 weeks after the birth, for 20 weeks' total paid leave. Plus, employees can share any unused portion of...

Cuba Gets First English-Language Bookstore

American ex-pat opens co-op

(Newser) - Cuba's first English-language bookstore, cafe, and literary salon opened in Havana yesterday. The brainchild of a longtime US expat, Cuba Libro launched with just 300 books on offer, about what you'd expect to find in the lobby of an average US bed & breakfast. Next to what's...

Bookstores' Salvation: Whiffs of Chocolate?

Study finds shoppers linger, buy more in certain genres

(Newser) - Bookstores need all they help they can get in the age of Amazon, and Belgian researchers are obliging with a suggestion: Smell like chocolate. Their study found that people were twice as likely to linger and peruse multiple books if the shop had a subtle scent of chocolate working in...

Amazon Might Doom Itself With Own Success

Evan Hughes: Killing traditional bookstores will harm company in long run

(Newser) - Amazon seems unstoppable right about now, thanks in part to court decisions like this one . On top of that, Barnes & Noble is reeling , as are brick-and-mortar bookstores in general. But Amazon better hold the celebration, because if it puts traditional bookstores out of business, it's only going to...

Barnes & Noble Slowly Closing a Third of Stores

Bookseller sees declining book, e-book sales

(Newser) - Faced with declining book sales and fewer mall openings, Barnes & Noble is poised to close about a third of its retail stores over the next 10 years, the CEO of the company's retail group tells the Wall Street Journal . The bookseller is likely to close about 20 stores...

How One Small Bookstore Outwitted Amazon

The Harvard Book Store installed its own printer

(Newser) - The Amazon steamroller is crushing one neighborhood bookstore after another—which is why Phil Johnson felt sympathy for the man who took over the Harvard Book Store. "I respected his mission, even if I didn’t quite believe in its future," Johnson writes in Forbes . But over a...

Farhad Manjoo: How Indie Bookstores Can Battle Amazon
 How Indie Bookstores 
 Can Battle Amazon 
OPINION

How Indie Bookstores Can Battle Amazon

Time for local shops to go high-tech: Farhad Manjoo

(Newser) - After sparking a debate over the value independent bookstores , Farhad Manjoo is presenting a peace offering. Independent bookstores may be inefficient from a financial perspective, but that doesn't mean they're "doomed," he writes at Slate . If we want to keep such bookstores going, we can't...

Critic Is Off Base: Bookshops Are Vital to Cities

Salon writer rebuts critique of local stores

(Newser) - Slate's Farhad Manjoo has written a withering critique of local bookshops, arguing that everybody would be better off just buying from Amazon. At Salon , Will Doig begs to differ. Bookstores are about way more than just hawking books, he writes. They "function as communal spaces, which makes them...

Independent Bookstores Should Go Away
Independent Bookstores Should Go Away
farhad manjoo

Independent Bookstores Should Go Away

They're inefficient and charge too much: Farhad Manjoo

(Newser) - Independent bookstores win a lot of sympathy in their David-and-Goliath fight against big bad Amazon, but Farhad Manjoo of Slate is siding with Goliath in this one. He lights into those quaint corner bookshops as "some of the least efficient, least user-friendly, and most mistakenly mythologized local establishments you...

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