By Sunayana Prabhu
HOLMDEL – Sustaining a business during a persistent pandemic after years of decline because of online booksellers has left Barnes & Noble shuttering and shifting its stores, adopting a “localization” model throughout the country.
Now, in a statement June 14, the company announced its Barnes & Noble store in Holmdel will be relocating in the fall to a smaller storefront in its current shopping center, the Commons at Holmdel. The bookseller, a local favorite, has served the community from its current location as one of the center’s flagship stores for the past 21 years.
According to the statement, Barnes & Noble will be moving into the space previously occupied by Modell’s Sporting Goods. The new Barnes & Noble will be about 4,000 square feet smaller than its original store – 18,000 square feet versus nearly 22,000 square feet.
Speaking about the move from the decades-old prime spot in the Commons, Janine Flanigan, director of store planning and design for B&N, said, “We’re very sad to leave one location but very, very excited that we’re staying in very close proximity to the current store. We are really looking forward to opening our new store and welcoming the customers to the new building, new furniture, new seating and new cafe.”
The domination of online platforms that offer digital access to books only grew during the pandemic, but the fact that a lot more authors found the time to finish and publish new works kept books from going extinct.
Bookstores offer “a completely different experience” compared to online platforms, Flanigan noted. “You could choose what you want to read and use Amazon, there is absolutely a market for that. But, if you want the feel of a book, of a bookstore, you want to go in and want to browse, you want the expertise of our booksellers, you want the recommendations, you want those conversations, you want to meet other people – I mean, that’s what our stores are about. It’s about community.”
Community has always been the focal point and strength of independent, small bookstores like River Road Books in Fair Haven, which has thrived with the support from community members.
Owned by Karen Rumage and Laurie Potter, River Road Books offers personal, hyperlocal book recommendations that vary by season.
“We’ve been here for a long time and we’re doing well,” Potter said.
She noted summer is one of their busiest seasons with people looking for beach reads and students trying to get summer assigned reading finished.
“People don’t want to read on their devices” at the beach, Potter said. “So, it’s a good time for us.”
Authors have used social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to publicize book launches but author visits and events related to a book launch hosted in-person at bookstores can be a big draw, giving booksellers another impetus to stay local.
Following the trends, and to stay afloat in the digital age, Barnes & Noble has also shifted its marketing strategy to “localization,” attempting to function like a small, independent bookstore instead of competing against a behemoth. That “makes sense,” Potter said. “We can’t compete with Amazon. But in the book world, I think people are shifting away from Amazon… if they can.”
Hyperlocal is the new mantra and local bookstores are role models for big book sellers with massive inventories like Barnes & Noble, Flanigan explained. “We’ve found that a slightly smaller footprint is the right size for us. Also, as our leases come up, we have an opportunity to refresh the building and go into new fixturing.” According to the details provided in the statement, “Barnes & Noble’s new bookstore design will retain the Café, serving Starbucks and will have the best locally tailored selection of books, stationery, gifts, games, puzzles and more, curated by the expert (local) team of booksellers.”
With approximately 600 bookstores in 50 states, the bookseller has plans to open 20 more stores between now and February 2023.
The current Barnes & Noble store in Holmdel will be open until the fall and reopen in its new location in January. Community members can follow the move on social media
@bnholmdel.
The article originally appeared in the July 14 – 20, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
