Wednesday, September 20, 2006

New York Times Bookstore

It won't happen often but I picked up on this story a few months ago regarding a partnership agreement between Paradies retail group and the NYT. I am happy to report that PaidContent.org has just reported that the companies have agreed that the Delta Terminal at La Guadia will be their second store. Here is my post from July.

The post was about renting a book which you can do at a fairly large number of airport stores managed by Paradies. When I first noticed this offering at the Columbus, OHIO airport (where I have spent way too much time) the promotional material was all over the place. When I was there last week (suffering another two hour delay) there was far less promotion of this offer. Either the store management isn't getting the floor staff to do their jobs correctly or the promotion isn't that important.

Incidentally, I am always shocked and amazed that anyone would get on a plane with absolutely nothing to read and I see this happening all the time. When these people sit next to me they get a very quiet seat mate. These people will thumb through the in-flight magazine which will take all of 10 mins, maybe sneak a look at my computer screen or try to engage in conversation. These people won't be renting books because they don't read. People who read probably don't need the motivation of knowing that they can return a book (i.e.; rent it) in order for them to buy at the airport store. So, my theory is that renting a book is a mere promotional concept and generally speaking wouldn't materially impact store sales.

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