Drawing from Barnes & Noble’s successful evolution in the digital age, industry veteran Ryan Carlson highlights strategies adult retailers can apply to reverse declining sales.
(Note: This article was written by Ryan Carlson and appears in the February issue of SE Magazine.)
If you had asked most people 10 years ago what they thought about the future of Barnes & Noble, most would have told you that its future is bleak. This would have been a natural response, given the meteoric rise of Amazon, the advent of e-readers and the prominence of so many alternative media platforms like Netflix, e-books and Instagram. A rational assumption would have been that Barnes & Noble would go the way of Blockbuster Video (i.e., bankrupt). Those early critics would be, as fate had it, astoundingly wrong.
Today, I read that Barnes & Noble is actually opening 60 new stores in 2026! A bookstore company once thought doomed by the internet was, in fact, growing sales and unit count in the era of the internet!
The parallels to the adult retail industry are substantial, so here are some of the takeaways from Barnes & Noble’s success as told by a company executive that apply to (ahem) other types of “bookstores.”
Stores weren’t ‘good enough’
“The problem wasn’t that physical bookselling didn’t have a valid place. The problem was that Barnes & Noble wasn’t running good enough bookstores.”
In our organization, we have seen this repeatedly when we have purchased existing stores or when we talk to other operators. It’s easy in those contexts to hear all about how sales are down and how the “industry is changing.”
News flash! The industry is changing, and it has been for 50 years! Adult stores used to be interstate-adjacent shacks with a few video booths and blandly packaged male toys. The industry (or at least most of it) upgraded from that model, and it will likely continue to evolve as time goes on. If you don’t stick with the program, you will eventually fail.
And if you haven’t kept up with the times, of course, your sales are down! The money used to fall from the ceiling because there was no competition, but now you actually have to work the business and stay in tune with trends. The business model itself is perfectly viable!
“If your team consists of basic, low-energy cashiers who sit behind the cash wrap their entire shift, you shouldn’t be surprised when your ticket average is sub-$20.”
— Ryan Carlson
‘Cluttered’ stores and unwanted merch
“[We didn’t want] cluttered stores with books that customers didn’t necessarily want to buy…it unlocks a dramatic cost saving on the other side. You don’t have to discount so much, so you’re not constantly just trying to get rid of stuff.”
If you own or manage an adult store and you don’t know the ins and outs of which products are popular and which are not, you will fail. Last year, we purchased a group of legacy stores that still had paperback smut novels from the mid-80s on the shelves. The pages were yellowed, the covers dusty and they took up much-needed merchandising space. Well-stocked, well-merchandised stores with inventory that’s in tune with local customer demands are vital to success!
Didn’t invest in a ‘committed workforce’
“The vast majority of Barnes & Noble employees were part-time, working under a retail model designed to minimize costs by keeping most employees under the threshold for receiving benefits. This directly contradicts the ability to develop a skilled, committed workforce.”
Your staff should consist exclusively of “sexperts.” Employees shouldn’t be “turned loose” for a shift alone until they’ve been fully trained, which, in our organization, takes about four weeks and multiple written tests. If your team consists of basic, low-energy cashiers who sit behind the cash wrap their entire shift, you shouldn’t be surprised when your ticket average is sub-$20. Successful stores require associates who work the floor, have unparalleled product knowledge and take the time to sell to every customer.
Successful shift to a ‘career model’
“All new store managers come from internal promotions…We’re shifting towards a career model where we have full-time booksellers who are invested in the business.”
My experience has generally been that the cream rises to the top, and when there is a void, somebody usually presents themself. Hiring from the outside for management positions generally fails. Outsiders do not understand your store’s culture, techniques or local market, nor do they value the position the same as those who have worked for it for at least a few years. A store with career professionals will always earn customer loyalty better than one with only disengaged part-timers.
“Our sales thrive on recommendations, as customers are 37% more likely to buy a product that is personally recommended by a sales associate.”
— Ryan Carlson
Creating a ‘fun’ and ‘engaging’ space
“People will buy books from us not because we’re cheaper or faster but because we’re a fun, engaging place to buy books.”
Have you read about “experiential retail?” It’s the new-wave term for shopping experiences that offer more than just a transaction. Adult stores are easy environments for this. Think about couples who visit on date night, recent graduates who visit and laugh at all the silly products or a bachelorette party that takes photos as part of their memory book. These experiences can’t be replicated online, solidifying brick and mortar’s future for those who choose to work it properly.
Tailoring to ‘each store’s community’
“Barnes & Noble is carving out its own niche, focusing on what it can offer that Amazon cannot: a personalized, human-driven experience, tailored to each store’s community.”
Online stores cannot practically host community events, engage with local community charities or sponsor a local LGBTQ+ club. These types of activities are what drive consumers to “buy local” and support small businesses over cheaper online alternatives. Being part of the community develops brand loyalty, and no online competitor can replicate that.
Offering what Amazon ‘can’t replicate’
“Even though Amazon has revolutionized convenience and selection, it can’t replicate the joy of a passionate bookseller recommending a favorite title, or the excitement of discovering a book serendipitously on a beautifully arranged display table.”
Retail is in the details, and merchandising seals the deal. A well-done display can start a conversation with a customer that online merchants cannot have. Our sales thrive on recommendations, as customers are 37% more likely to buy a product that is personally recommended by a sales associate.
We use the “Best, Better, Good” method like many boutique retailers, and have found that consistent application of this strategy, combined with aggressively consistent close-out and upsell steps of service substantially improves sales at any location. A $50 ticket average should be a very achievable goal for nearly any store!
Providing customers ‘genuine value’
“The potential takeaway for investors is that Barnes & Noble’s story demonstrates that even in the digital age, physical retail can thrive when it offers genuine value.”
This is an excellent, simple summary: “genuine value.” Price is what a customer pays, value is what they get. They can pay the same price online (or cheaper in some cases). We can add value in the ways that only brick and mortar retail can—customer interaction, product knowledge and expertise, familiarizing the unfamiliar, instant delivery, total anonymity, iron-clad warranties and returns.
These value-adds are substantial, cost us pretty much nothing and largely can’t be matched by online retailers. The fact is that well-operated adult stores are still successful, and in fact, still growing sales, much like Barnes & Noble. They had competitors (remember Borders and Waldenbooks?) that went extinct because they refused to modernize.
So the question is, do you want your store to be Barnes & Noble, or go the way of the dodo bird?
Ryan Carlson is the retired CEO of Deja Vu. His family still owns many adult clubs and bookstores nationally.
