Again, I really have no insight into there business, but it seems to be they could definitely improve their stores. I frequent Barnes and Noble a lot and to me they could do the following to improve revenues:
1) Increase the seating area for the in-store coffee shops and place the magazines right next to them. This has to be a huge money maker for each store as it always appears busy.
2) Update the "Free WiFi" to where you get an access code good for 2-3 hours on a receipt from the coffee shop (or any cash register where you have made a purchase). Many coffee shops have done this and it doesn't seem to hurt business.
3) Reduce book overhead. Determine what your best selling book types are as well as the most browsed sections and stock these.
4) Provide a host of easily navigated touch screen mini-stores that allow users to purchase or order books for store pickup. There are a lot of details that could be worked out to make this a slick experience.
5) Drop the music/DVD part...physical media of this sort is going away. If they really wanted to hang in this arena, they need to create some iTunes like system for the Nook...but they are probably too late to catch on...so that would likely be wasted money.
Overall, I think they need to focus on making the place a reason to get out of the house and browse. Magazines and Coffee are a good start with an easy way to get any book you want (via well done kiosks). May not work, but it seems a lot mor
