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Razors Edge-is this in your neck of the woods?


dinneR

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Barnes-and-Noble-BN-Logo_102318.jpgBarnes & Noble plans to open one of its smallest stores in years at Edens' Mosaic District, a retail and restaurant project in the Merrifield section of Fairfax, Va., according to the Washington Business Journal, which cited "a contractor bid site."

The new B&N, scheduled to open in June, will be just 8,630 square feet. The company had said during its first-quarter results conference call in September that its newest prototype stores are in the range of 10,000 to 14,000 square feet, and some might be as small as 8,000 to 10,000 square feet.

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43 minutes ago, dennis said:

Mosaic District, a retail and restaurant project in the Merrifield section of Fairfax, Va

Yes and no.  It's about 10 miles away, so far enough I don't go there very often, but near enough to visit occasionally.  Went there for my birthday lunch and a movie this year.  I used to work a few blocks away in the mid-90s.  A nice change from what was there back then.  Also, not too far from the Metro, but I still don't think that area is very bike friendly despite being maybe a mile from the W&OD trail.

I miss B&N (or any bookstores for that matter). The one by my office closed down a couple years ago.  We still have the mix off small independents in DC (ex Politics and Prose which is on CSPAN alot), but those are a little longer walk than I normally take at lunch.  Reston also lost its B&N and BaM a few years back, but we do at least have a small independent called Scrawl that got a brief appearance in the recent Great American Read series on PBS.

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43 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Yes and no.  It's about 10 miles away, so far enough I don't go there very often, but near enough to visit occasionally.  Went there for my birthday lunch and a movie this year.  I used to work a few blocks away in the mid-90s.  A nice change from what was there back then.  Also, not too far from the Metro, but I still don't think that area is very bike friendly despite being maybe a mile from the W&OD trail.

I miss B&N (or any bookstores for that matter). The one by my office closed down a couple years ago.  We still have the mix off small independents in DC (ex Politics and Prose which is on CSPAN alot), but those are a little longer walk than I normally take at lunch.  Reston also lost its B&N and BaM a few years back, but we do at least have a small independent called Scrawl that got a brief appearance in the recent Great American Read series on PBS.

I'm curious to see how this works out for them. They want to move away from the Big Box format into smaller neighborhood stores. BN or something like it needs to survive to keep some balance in the industry. Their stores with restaurants didn't seem to fly. 

I've never been to P&P, but it's considered to be one of the better stores in the country. 

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1 hour ago, dennis said:

They are probably the biggest showroom for amazon.

Pretty much all bricks and mortar have become showrooms for online retailers :( I'm not sure how you fix the issue, nor if there is a fix.  Certainly maintaining a warehouse and fulfillment center in a cheap part of town is way less expensive and less labor intensive than keeping a huge store open 18 hrs a day in a high traffic/high rent area.  Amazon's "free" shipping is often the deal maker as folks see a price 30-50% less than the store and they can still have it in a day or two. Likewise, carrying the proper inventory is expensive.

I do think folks like a Trek or Specialized are treading that really fine line since without an LBS to sell, fit, service, warranty, etc. your bikes, eventually price, price, price is the only criteria shoppers use, and on that, Trek or Specialized will be crushed by foreign competition from China. That works much less with lube, water bottles, or even clothing, since the on-line folks are becoming way more flexible with returns for something like wrong fit in clothing.

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1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

Pretty much all bricks and mortar have become showrooms for online retailers :( I'm not sure how you fix the issue, nor if there is a fix.  Certainly maintaining a warehouse and fulfillment center in a cheap part of town is way less expensive and less labor intensive than keeping a huge store open 18 hrs a day in a high traffic/high rent area.  Amazon's "free" shipping is often the deal maker as folks see a price 30-50% less than the store and they can still have it in a day or two. Likewise, carrying the proper inventory is expensive.

I do think folks like a Trek or Specialized are treading that really fine line since without an LBS to sell, fit, service, warranty, etc. your bikes, eventually price, price, price is the only criteria shoppers use, and on that, Trek or Specialized will be crushed by foreign competition from China. That works much less with lube, water bottles, or even clothing, since the on-line folks are becoming way more flexible with returns for something like wrong fit in clothing.

True, but it has hit BN worse than indies. Indie bookstore sales are growing and BN is shrinking. I think people are okay with treating a big corp like a showroom and less so to an indie store. Plus a small store can offer things like service and events. The successful ones have figured out a way to remain relevant. 

I think as long as bike companies protect the LBS they can survive. QBP is really aggressive as is Trek and Specialized. You won't find Trek, Specialized, or Salsa product for sale on amazon. They even protect it from ebay as much as they can.  

 

 

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