Why am I breaking up with Barnes and Noble?
I work at a bookstore, and I’ve researched Barnes and Noble for the last two years. I always thought they were the golden child to bookstores. After studying them, I realized they’re not. Their financial decisions will ruin the bookstore. It’s not good. Barnes and Noble is sliding down a big hill toward Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is not horrible, but it isn’t great. It’s just a protective measurement. J.C. Penny was Chapter 11 bankrupt, and they’re still kicking. But we’ll see. Because of those financial decisions, I want you guys to know that Barnes is robbing you and this is the main reason I’m breaking up with them. Here’s more information on why I’m breaking up with Barnes:
1. Opening Stores
Opening 30 stores is a red flag and not a sign of growth (you have to think where that money is coming from). The answer is not from their book sales (more likely from banks in the form of debt).
I say this because Barnes hasn’t seen growth in sales in over a decade. Last year was their only positive growth year in a decade, but is this enough to open 30+ stores in expensive areas like Boston? Maybe 5 at most, but not 30+.
The other point I’ll make is Barnes has 600+ stores, but how many of those properties do they own? Probably not a lot. This is a huge risk. Instead of opening 30+ new stores, they should relocate that money into their prior stores like buying the stores, putting a new sign on a building (Augusta, Maine I’m talking about you), etc. If you buy the property, you’re going to make money. Why? Because commercial properties are gold. Much better value than residential properties. You can sell them quickly, and you can rent them out to other companies (making more money). Also, the money you make from books/merchandise doesn’t go toward a high lease payment each month. This means more money for the business and more money to relocate toward other stores that might need it. Holy gosh. But Barnes isn’t doing this from what I’m seeing.
They’re focusing on the growth of the company, which costs a ton of money. A good amount of their new stores are in expensive areas. What does this mean? Barnes has to increase costs somewhere and take out something to make the company more money. In Barnes case, this is hurting the customer more than anything. This leads to my two other reasons.
2. Their Membership Changes (Increase Cost)
They revamped their entire membership. Costing you more money with no benefits besides an expensive tote bag (my breakdown on why is down below). $40 for their premium membership with no coupons and no gift card back to you isn’t saving you much money. Also, there’s already a minimum free shipping charge, so this feature is quite pointless. Essentially, they need money and quite frankly robbing you with this premium membership. Another red flag.
Here’s more of a breakdown of the premium membership:
- 10% off the store (horrible discount for a $40 membership)
- 10% offline (not bad, but online prices are already lowered because it comes straight from their warehouse)
- 10% off Nook devices (kindle is much better)
- Stamp system — For every $10 you spend, you get one stamp. Ten stamps = $5 reward. So you’ll have to spend $100 to get $5 back. That’s horrible.
- Tote bag valued at $20 (not that impressive tbh)
- Free shipping (there’s already free shipping when I order $40 worth of stuff, which is two books)
- Exclusive early access to events (this is a pretty good feature, but what if your Barnes doesn’t do events?)
- Exclusive early access to books (This one doesn’t make sense to me because some books have a hard sell by date initiated by the publisher. If they don’t have a hard sell by date, the bookstore can put them out on the sales floor.)
- Overall rating: 1/5
Their other program is the free one that makes more sense to sign up for. Here’s the breakdown of that membership:
- Same stamp system as the premium membership. For every $10 you spend, you get one stamp. Ten stamps = $5 reward. so you’ll have to spend $100 to get back $5. This is actually not bad for a free membership if you buy a lot of book through Barnes.
- There’s free shipping after $40, so you don’t need the premium membership to get free shipping
- Overall rating: 2/5
Note: The premium membership isn’t permanent. It’s in a beta stage, but the cost will probably remain the same. I wonder if Barnes will add more coupons or discounts. Right now, it’s not worth getting the premium membership.
3. Educator Program (Take Something Out)
The last straw that made me say f* Barnes forever is they took out their educator card. A 25% discount card that was free for teachers is now gone. They are forcing teachers now to pay for the premium membership or get the free membership. With the transition to the new membership, teachers had the opportunity to get the premium membership for free. However, it’s still a downgrade and a horrible alternative.
Why did they take out their educator program? Put simply, they need money. Instead of not being conservative and not opening 30 stores, they cut costs in the worst way possible: you (the customer).
I’m sorry to leave Barnes in the dust, but it’s not worth it. The educator program cut was the worst decision. Now, you’re going to have a ton of educators angry and pissed off at you. They will probably not come back to Barnes, which is a ton of missed revenue.
Also, Barnes cuts back on their membership, so they can make more money off you. You’re not saving a ton of money with the premium membership or even the free membership. From what I’m seeing, they need money badly.
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