Bad news for book biz

Barnes & Noble Chairman Leonard Riggio is not encouraged about the economic climate, though he sounds a little more upbeat about the company's health. Here's what he said in a memo to employees late last week, courtesy of the WSJ:

Never in all of the years I've been in business have I seen a worse outlook for the economy. And never in all my years as a bookseller have I seen a retail climate as poor as the one we are in. Nothing even close. The latest bubble in our system has burst, this time taking with it the hopes and dreams of tens of millions of Americans, and leaving many more in fear of their now uncertain futures.

[CUT]

Barnes & Noble, too, has suffered from this crisis, albeit not as severely as most retailers, and certainly not as much as other booksellers. As you know, our comparable store sales have declined for the first time in our history. As a result, we are bracing for a terrible holiday season, and expect the trend to continue well into 2009, and perhaps beyond.

On the macro front, many millions of Americans will be laid off, money will be scarce nonetheless, and many once famous retailers will shut their doors. We will not be one of them. Still, the decline in retail traffic will affect our business as less people will pass our doors, and competition for the remaining business will become more intense. The result will be a "Darwinian" environment (only the fittest will survive), and the retail species will have to adapt or face extinction. We have and will continue to adapt, and we plan to be around for a long time.

Riggio also urges his people not to keep customers waiting in line, a noble goal that assumes there will be enough employees at the checkout desk.