Book Stores Aiding a Retail Resurgence?

Posted on May. 4, 2023  /  A/E/C  /  Subscribe 0

AUTHOR: Ken Lambert  Contact

Commercial real estate is constantly evolving, and we all know it can be quite cyclical.  And of course it is regional/ territorial; what is happening in the Seaport District of Boston may not equate to Schenectady, NY. In general, there have been many reports and articles over the past 5 years (or more) declaring that brick & mortar retail is dying or already dead.  Some of this has focused on the mall collapse in various locations. For one, many malls across the country are doing okay.  Most have changed- some substantially.  They are now much more mixed-use, and are not solely retail.  Plus, many of their retail tenants are in constant flux.

With Amazon “taking over the world” over the past several years, and with the increasing use and sale of e-books, what are the chances of physical booksellers being a part of a retail renaissance? I was glad and a little surprised to see this recent BISNOW article about this very topic:

https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/retail/barnes-noble-planning-dozens-of-new-stores-118668?utm_source=outbound_pub_1&utm_campaign=outbound_issue_66855&utm_content=outbound_link_2&utm_medium=email

Barnes & Noble is planning on opening 30 new stores this year, nationally.  This is on top of their 17 added stores in 2022.  That expansion of stores last year was their most since 2009. This resurgence has been led by increased revenues and what BISNOW notes as “significant expansion of the market for physical books”. 

Physical/actual books?! Imagine that.  Everyone is on their smartphones and their tablets nowadays, and seemingly society now has the attention span of a gnat. But, more people are wanting to buy and read actual printed books. As a “bookie” (not sure if that is the correct term here), I applaud this and think it is great. I’m regularly out buying a book, and I enjoy browsing in a bookstore and seeing what might interest me.  It is just not the same in front of my laptop- on the Amazon website. And it is not just books. Books make up a sector of retail alongside sporting goods, hobby, and musical instruments that have maintained a recent 3% sales uptick year-over-year.

As AEC professionals, we follow and collaborate with many companies and industries. We should be happy to see that there are still opportunities, be it new construction, renovation, or adaptive reuse, for in-person retail. Trends change, what we want to buy changes, and the economy is cyclical (and complicated).  But a vibrant retail real estate market lends itself to an overall strong commercial construction sector.

Image courtesy of Bisnow.

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