Will Barnes & Noble Follow the Path of Borders?

In a word...Of Course! Okay, that's two words, but you understand where I'm heading with this don't you?

Barnes & Noble has lately been suffering in various areas of its business, leading some to question if the nation’s largest book retailer will soon follow in the defunct Borders Group’s footsteps.

If asked someone who works at a Barnes & Noble book store, if they think eBooks and eReaders will eventually become the downfall of Barnes & Noble, they'll say no, that book sales are still strong. But I beg to differ. Just take a look around a Barnes & Noble store when you walk in the front door and what's the first thing you see? A Nook or Kindle Reader display and salesperson right there at the front door! Now glance around the store and you'll notice there doesn't seem to be as many book shelves as there used to be. Instead, you'll see huge sections and rows of games, toys, puzzles, and many items that aren't books! Why do you think that is? I can tell you. It's because people aren't buying printed books as much as they used to. Why....because of the ability to stay at home and download a book to their eReader.

Barnes & Noble employees and management can deny it all they want, and probably will all the way to the unemployment line.

I say if you're going to sell something right at your front door that is going to eventually put you out of business, you deserve to go out of business.

Maybe in the end, we'll see the independent book stores that were forced out of business by the giant book selling chains, return. Let's hope so.