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| SFReader Forums > SFReader > Anything Goes! > Decline in Customers Hurts Borders | Forum Quick Jump
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crystalwizard
Forum Moderator
      
Date Joined Nov 2006
Total Posts : 4607
| Posted 5/31/2007 11:58 AM (GMT -4) |   | article by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 5/29/2007
Total revenue was up 2.1% at Borders Group in the first quarter, to $885.8 million, and the company posted a net loss of $35.9 million compared to $20.2 million in last year’s first period. Sales at the company’s superstores rose 1.4%, to $615 million, but comp store sales were down 1.9%. CFO Ed Wilhelm attributed the decrease to a 4% decline in customer traffic in the period. "We tried a lot of promotional efforts, but we’ll have to do more," Wilhelm said. The company was encouraged by sales per customer which were up 2%. At the superstores, book sales were down slightly, DVD sales were flat and music sales were down. Bestseller sales were solid in the quarter, Wilhelm said, led by The Secret plus several strong fiction titles. | | Back to Top | | |
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erazmus
Master
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 4475
| Posted 6/2/2007 7:08 AM (GMT -4) | | I use B&N over Borders for most items (except magazines, which the local borders gets many more of the things I want without me even asking for them). But I think it is a lot more than the competition.
Bookstores sell books, and people are reading less and less of them all the time. There isn't an easy way around that. There are several hard ways around it though. B&N her in the springs has two stores, so does Borders, B&N's are located near malls but stand alone in their own buildings. Borders has one store standing alone, and one _in_ a mall, the biggest, busiest mall in town. I don't think this helps them. Very little of the foot traffic at that location is coming to them. Its all going to "the mall". They have a huge selection of books in their two story store, but I dobt any more people swing in and buy one than would come into a small B. dalton's style store in the mall. And you can bet they pay for all that mall space.
The B&N stores are owned by B&N, the price per square foot doesn't really go up, as it does every few years in the mall locations. The ease of access, not having to fight mall traffic and mall parking to get into the bokstore, make the B&N locations an easier choice for readers to visit.
Did anyone else here go to a Harry Potter party when "The dark Prince" came out? B&N had some great ones. Both booksellers should look into such things as mid-hight promotions and live radio broadcasts more often. Traffic was up for days beforehand and weeks afterwards, because of the coverage. These days I think it might pay to remind people that they know how to read, and can enjoy it.
A book is still an entertainment bargain, providing hours of distraction for very little money- a tenth the cost of a video game, half that of a movie (and the movie only lasts for eighty minutes or so). Sellers of books would do well to tell people that. Bookstores do so very little advertising . . . and take so little risk on their product as well. The books can be returned for credit, the advertising is up to the publishers . . .what do they do to sell their wares? Not enough.
Mike
Michael D. Turner
"Psyched Up" in _Turn the other Chick_-ed. E. Friesner-Baen books
www.baen.com
"Dutchman Rescue"in Continuum SF #6
www.continuumsciencefiction.com/orders.htm
"An Incident at Black Tongue Tavern" in _Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy_ from Fantasist Enterprises:
www.fantasistent.com/books/anthologies/BASH.php | | Back to Top | | |
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Keralen
Adept
Date Joined Mar 2006
Total Posts : 512
| Posted 6/4/2007 3:33 PM (GMT -4) | | | It's a shame - around here (DC area) Borders is way better. I get a 25% or more coupon for *anything* every week, plus a 10% coupon for the following week when I buy. The staff know everything and will walk you to the shelf for your book (this is true for the 3 branches I shop at). The B&N people are rude and lazy. I also like the free access to the search computers, where at B&N you have to wait in line and ask - then, see previous sentence. | | Back to Top | | |
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BethS
Adept
Date Joined Jun 2004
Total Posts : 748
| Posted 6/4/2007 4:02 PM (GMT -4) | |
Keralen said...
It's a shame - around here (DC area) Borders is way better. I get a 25% or more coupon for *anything* every week, plus a 10% coupon for the following week when I buy. The staff know everything and will walk you to the shelf for your book (this is true for the 3 branches I shop at). The B&N people are rude and lazy. I also like the free access to the search computers, where at B&N you have to wait in line and ask - then, see previous sentence.
I like the search computer, too--in fact, overall, I've always liked Borders better, just in terms of what they carry and general ambiance. But in my town, they're not as conveniently located as B&N, and the customer reward system isn't great. I get coupons by e-mail every couple of weeks, but it's always just for one item, and often there's a price minimum.
~Beth | | Back to Top | | |
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Frank
Adept
Date Joined Aug 2005
Total Posts : 629
| Posted 6/17/2007 11:04 AM (GMT -4) | | | I buy DVDs either at my local flea market, Amazon, or SecondSpin.com. | | Back to Top | | |
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