Rare Book Monthly

Articles - December - 2010 Issue

Barnes & Noble Reaches Out to Children

Barnes & Nobles toy and game area at their Bronx, New York, store.

Barnes & Nobles toy and game area at their Bronx, New York, store.


By Michael Stillman

Barnes & Noble recently announced another new idea for its stores as the nation's number one bricks and mortar book retailer struggles to re-establish relevance in a changing world, not to mention fending off a corporate takeover by dissident shareholders and fighting for survival itself. We don't know what the ultimate outcome will be for the retailer that struggles to keep its stock price at a third of its high of a few years ago, but we give them an "A" for effort. Barnes & Noble is not going down without a fight, and just as they reinvigorated bookselling in an earlier decade with coffee and pastry, they may yet do it again with socialization and learning.

Just a couple of months ago, Barnes & Noble announced that they would be setting up "e-reading boutiques," featuring its Nook electronic readers, in their stores. These would allow customers to become more familiar with electronic books and readers and, hopefully, encourage them to buy Nooks and e-books from them. We think it's a clever idea - taking advantage of the one thing Barnes & Noble has that bookselling and electronic leader Amazon lacks - a local, physical presence. Personal, hands-on use of and help with electronic devices is a powerful way to connect to customers. Now, Barnes & Noble is adding one more chance to connect, this time with children in particular.

Barnes & Noble is testing what it calls "ultimate playrooms" in five of its stores, two in Connecticut, two in New Jersey, one in New York. These are 3,000 square foot areas designed for play, interactive learning, and, naturally, reading. The idea is to engage children in activities that are both fun and intellectual. It's the bookstore equivalent to McDonald's Playland, perhaps a bit higher on the intellectual to physical ratio than the latter, but the same basic idea. Make the bookstore more fun for children, and you may make customers both of them and their parents. Not a bad idea, and one that online retailers like Amazon will be hard-pressed to follow.

These playrooms will feature products from partners such as Lego. There will also be book-related items such as products featuring Curious George and Thomas the Tank Engine. There will be games and toys, and, naturally enough, Nooks for the youngsters to try. While these large play areas are only being tested in five stores, many others will have smaller areas devoted to children's products.

Along with books, coffee, and electronic readers, Barnes & Noble will also be selling toys and games. Here we again see some clever marketing strategies by the leading physical bookstore. Rather than all kinds of toys, like a Wal-Mart or Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble will be sticking with educational-type toys. As Jaime Carey, Chief Merchandising Officer for Barnes & Noble, cleverly stated, "Busy parents and gift-givers don't have to wade through aisles of cheap, faddish toys; Barnes & Noble has already selected the best of the best, hand-picking and highlighting exceptional and engaging learning toys and games." So, if you are a parent looking for something to educate and stimulate your child, instead of momentarily impress them with something that breaks next week, Barnes & Noble is the place to go. That's a logical connection for a store that primarily sells another intellectual item - books. To us, this looks like some smart positioning by B&N, one that just may help to bring them back in a world very changed from their 1990s heyday, pre-Amazon, pre-electronic readers. If successful, the combination of fun and books may also stimulate more reading among the young. If so, this will not only be good for Barnes & Noble, but for society as well. Let's hope.

Rare Book Monthly

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    Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
    Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
  • Doyle, Dec. 5: Minas Avetisian (1928-1975). Rest, 1973. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 5: Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973). Yawning Tiger, conceived 1917. $3,000 to $5,000.
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    Doyle, Dec. 5: LeRoy Neiman (1921-2012). THE BEACH AT CANNES, 1979. $1,200 to $1,800.
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    Doyle, Dec. 5: Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). Flowers in Vase, 1985. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 5: Edward Weston (1886-1958). Nude, 1936. $20,000 to $30,000.
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    Doyle, Dec. 5: Steven J. Levn (b. 1964). Plumage II, 2011. $6,000 to $8,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 5: Steven Meisel (b. 1954). Madonna, Miami, (from Sex), 1992. $6,000 to $9,000.
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    Doyle, Dec. 6: RAND, AYN. Single page from Ayn Rand’s handwritten first draft of her influential final novel Atlas Shrugged. $30,000 to $50,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 6: Ernest Hemingway’s first book with interesting provenance. Three Stories & Ten Poems. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 6: Hemingway’s second book, one of 170 copies. In Our Time. $15,000 to $25,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 6: A finely colored example of Visscher’s double hemisphere world map, with a figured border. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 6: Raymond Chandler’s Olivetti Studio 44 Typewriter. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 6: Antonio Ordóñez's “Suit of Lights” owned by Ernest Hemingway. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 6: A remarkable Truman archive featuring an inscribed beam from the White House construction. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 6: The fourth edition of Audubon’s The Birds of America. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 6: The original typed manuscript for Chandler’s only opera. The Princess and the Pedlar: An Entirely Original Comic Opera. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 6: A splendidly illustrated treatise on ancient Peru and its Incan civilization. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, Dec. 6: A superb copy of Claude Lorrain’s Liber Veritatis from Longleat House. $5,000 to $8,000.
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  • ALDE, Dec. 11: ALBINUS (BERNHARD SIEGFIED). Tabulæ Sceleti et Musculorum corporis humanum, Londres, 1749. €4,000 to €5,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: BIDLOO (GOVARD). Anatomia humani corporis. Centum et quinque tabulis per artificiosiss. G. de Lairesse..., Amsterdam, 1685.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: BOURGERY (JEAN-MARC) – JACOB (NICOLAS-HENRI). Traité complet de l’anatomie de l’Homme comprenant la médecine opératoire, Paris, 1832. €4,000 to €5,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: CALDANI (LEOPOLDO MARCANTONIO ET FLORIANO). Icones anatomicae, Venice, 1801-14. €5,000 to €6,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: CARSWELL (ROBERT). Pathological Anatomy. Illustrations of the elementary forms of disease, London, 1838. €5,000 to €6,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: CASSERIUS (JULIUS) [GIULIO CASSERIO]. De vocis auditusq. organis historia anatomica singulari fide methodo ac industria concinnata tractatis duobus explicate, Ferrara, 1600-1601. €4,000 to €5,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: ESTIENNE (CHARLES). De dissectione partium corporis humani libri tres, Paris, 1545. €8,000 to €10,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: GAMELIN (JACQUES). Nouveau Recueil d'Ostéologie et de Myologie dessiné d'après nature... pour l’utilité des sciences et des arts, divisé en deux parties, Toulouse, 1779. €6,000 to €8,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: ROESSLIN (EUCHER). Des divers travaux et enfantemens des femmes et par quel moyen l'on doit survenir aux accidens…, Paris, 1536. €3,000 to €4,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: RUYSCH (FREDERICK). Thesaurus anatomicus - Anatomisch Cabinet, Amsterdam, 1701-1714. €3,000 to €4,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: VALVERDE (JUAN DE). Anatome corporis humani. Nunc primum a Michaele Michaele Columbo latine reddita, et additis novis aliquot tabulis exornata, Venetiis, 1589. €2,000 to €3,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 11: VESALIUS (ANDREAS). De humani Corporis Fabrica libri septem, Venetiis, 1568. €3,000 to €4,000.

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