Barnes & Noble Is Getting Into the Restaurant Business

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Barnes & Noble plans to launch four “concept stores” featuring upgraded cafes, with proper food and, more importantly, beer and wine. Good place to get slowly plastered while contemplating the future of the book business!

That’s according to the New York Post. The first of the stores is planned for Eastchester, New York, followed by Edina, Minnesota, Folsom, California, and Loudon, Virginia. A peek inside:

In the new stores, customers will be able to sit at a bar stool, be served by a bartender or sit at a table and order from a full menu covering breakfast, lunch and dinner.
That store will also have a outdoor fire pit and a bocce court.
“Our new cafes will be a major commitment to hospitality and will contribute a larger percentage of sales in our stores,” said Jaime Carey, president of the company’s new restaurant group, at an investor day meeting on Thursday.

“Our goal was to develop a better bookstore that provides more public space,” said Carey, “where books are still the hero.” He also told a Fortune reporter that, “We already have a cafe, so we said let’s have a much better food experience frankly,” and, “We think they’re going to drive traffic to the store and keeping them in the store longer.”

Might as well give it a shot—God only knows how much of online retail is driven by drunk shopping.


Photo via AP Images.

 
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