The decline of the book store continues....

WILL STORES SUCH AS THIS VANISH?

The downside of the digital revolution is once again being felt by brick and mortar book stores as the US' biggest book-chain, Barnes and Noble goes up for sale.  The news surprised analysts and alarmed publishers, who have watched as the book business has increasingly shifted to online retailers and eBook sales, leaving both chains and independent sellers struggling.
Barnes & Noble, the country’s largest book chain with 720 stores, said that its board believed the stock was “significantly undervalued” and that it had set up a special committee to review its options.

There is believed to have been a gradual decline in people reading over the last twenty years, but the biggest challenge to traditional stores has come from online retailers such as Amazon and Apple, as well as the growing shift towards eBooks. But Barnes & Noble has made efforts to adapt to the changing landscape. Last year, it announced that it had acquired Fictionwise, an online e-book retailer. In March, the company promoted William Lynch, then the head of its Web division, to chief executive, signaling that it was pouring its efforts into the growing digital side of the business.
It has tried to compete with Amazon and Apple in the e-reader market by opening its own e-bookstore last summer, and by introducing its own device, the Nook.