Barnes & Noble Expands Cafe Concept

Barnes & Noble is opening four concept stores throughout the country in 2017. In cafes twice the size of the bookstore’s current spots, beer, wine and a bigger food menu will be available to shoppers. This is the latest effort from Barnes & Noble to rejuvenate the company and grow sales. Jaime Carey, president of development and the restaurant group, said the idea is to keep customers in the store longer and give new shoppers a reason to enter.

Total Retail’s Take: A delicious meal, refreshing drink and good book sound relaxing after a long day of shopping … if I’m sitting on my couch at home. However, there are many people who spend hours and hours in Barnes & Noble shopping, reading and drinking coffee. The bookstore is betting these new cafes can help keep those people in the stores longer while attracting mall shoppers who wouldn’t normally enter. With Amazon.com opening its own physical bookstores, the pressure is on Barnes & Noble to keep its stores alive.