The future of Barnes & Noble looks grim, for sure. But it's not entirely the company's fault. Even if it had anticipated the e-book boom, it's very unlikely that it could have transformed itself into an e-tail giant; it wasn't blind, in other words — it was sideswiped. So what exactly should Barnes & Noble do? Liquidation, of course, is one option. Another option is to turn its stores into mini-malls — create different content categories (home, cooking, babies, etc.), and lease each "store" to an expert in that particular field, who would sell their own theme-related merchandise. Barnes & Noble, in turn, would oversee everything, and stock each vendor with appropriate books. It's a long shot, no doubt, but Harrods in London uses a similar strategy to great success. It's worth a try. What else does Barnes & Noble have to lose?
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