Business & Tech

Barnes & Noble To Close Stores: Would You Miss Any of the Peninsula Stores?

Company announces it'll shut down 20 stores a year over the next decade.

Do you shop at any of the Barnes & Noble bookstores on the Peninsula?  There are Barnes and Noble stores in San Mateo, Redwood City and San Bruno. If any or all of them closed would you be happy to support Books Inc. in downtown Burlingame?

Apparently not enough people are shopping at some Barnes and Noble stores.

Company executives told the Wall Street Journal they plan to close 20 stores a year over the next decade.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

No specific stores have been targeted yet for closure.

If no new stores were opened, that would reduce the number of Barnes & Noble stores nationwide by a third, the Huffington Post reported.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Since 2003, the company has been closing 15 stores a year, but they've also been opening more than 30 a year.

Last year, however, Barnes & Noble closed 14 stores and didn't open any, the Huffington Post reported.

One reason is a steady decline in book sales. Print book sales have decreased 22 percent over the past five years, according to Nielsen BookScan.

If Barnes & Noble closed any or all of the Peninsula stores, would you be happy to support Books Inc. in downtown Burlingame? How can bookstores compete more effectively in this electronic age? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Do you subscribe to the Burlingame-Hillsborough Patch newsletter? It brings our latest stories, blogs, announcements and the day's calendar events to your in-box early each morning. Follow Benicia Patch on Facebook and Twitter.

Do you have opinions, experiences and views to share? Consider becoming a Burlingame-Hillsborough Patch blogger!

If there’s something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss email the editor at burlingame@patch.com.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here