Print has lately been celebrated for its staying power—even growth—but few reports consider the performance of the largest US brick-and-mortar bookstore chain, Barnes & Noble, which last week reported its fiscal year-end results.
Barnes & Noble’s overall sales are down 3.1 percent from last year, and its print book sales alone decreased 1.5 percent. Since Nielsen BookScan reports that print book unit sales are increasing, one can conclude that Amazon is gaining market share. Barnes & Noble blames its sales decline on store closures and poor online sales. (BarnesandNoble.com had a bungled relaunch in fiscal 2016.) The Nook picture is even bleaker—sales declined by 27.4 percent compared to the prior year. You can read the full earnings report here.
To aid growth, B&N is planning to test and develop new concept stores that will include restaurants serving beer and wine. They will be about 25 percent smaller than the typical superstores, with an emphasis on display. (Sound familiar—maybe like Amazon’s new bookstores?) The first concept store will open in Eastchester, New York, this October, and will include outdoor seating, a fire pit, and a bocce court. CEO Ron Boire says it will be “a great community space” and that restaurants at new stores will have “a focus on hospitality [that] will further reinforce Barnes & Noble as a destination and a place where people come to spend time and unwind.” (Read more in Publishers Weekly.)
Some other interesting facts from the recent earnings announcement:
- Middle-grade titles (for ages eight to twelve) are the number-two sales driver at B&N, second to adult trade fiction.
- Also growing are sales of graphic novels and manga. B&N has doubled the space for those titles in the past year.
- Music sales are up to almost 2 percent of total store sales at B&N, due to the comeback of vinyl. More growth is expected this year.
- The gifts department (including toys, games, and coloring books) represents 7 percent of total store revenue. This year, B&N will open “For the Artist” shops in roughly one-third of its stores and sell a range of artist supplies.
- B&N estimates that its US market share is about 20 percent of print books and 9 percent of ebooks. (Recently, the New Republic’s Alex Shephard argued that it would be a disaster for book lovers if Barnes & Noble closed, estimating that some books see 30 percent of their sales through the chain.)
Bottom line: The bookselling chain has had a rollercoaster ride this year as far as its stock price, with bad performance in the Nook and online retail channels, not to mention increasing debt. There is a modest windfall for B&N on the horizon: the recent ebook settlement will result in a 1 to 2 percent increase in its annual revenue as consumers spend their credits. Perhaps not coincidentally, B&N estimates that its overall sales will be flat or increase up to 1 percent in fiscal 2017. Meanwhile, planned store closings will continue. Michael Cader of Publishers Lunch pointed out (subscription required) that forty-five B&N stores are planned to close over the next three years, and with each closing, of course, total sales volume is expected to decline.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
