Could Barnes & Noble Stores Be Shrinking? Company Looking At New Formats

After years of struggling to maintain sales, Barnes & Noble may be looking to revamp its image, starting with smaller stores.

The Wall Street Journal reports the nation’s largest bookstore chain is considering a new store prototype after facing a fifth straight quarter of sales declines.

New CEO Ronald Boire says any changes would be in response to consumers’ changing tastes.

“The industry is evolving, and we think there are opportunities ahead with a different format,” Boire said. “I’ve sat in on a couple of meetings about this and we’ll have more to discuss later.”

While Boire offered few details about a possible new store format, the WSJ reports that it would likely be smaller than the company’s current average footprint of 26,000 square feet.

Additionally, the WSJ hypothesizes that the stores would likely continue to feature a variety of non-book products, such as toys and games, which actually showed sales increases in the first quarter of 2015.

Barnes & Noble Considers New Store Prototype [The Wall Street Journal]

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