If you’ve been to an airport you have seen a Hudson News store. They are located in hundreds of airport terminals.
Fancy Unique Business? NOPE!
Hudson News only sells popular products that you have already heard of.
1. Best Selling Books
2. Popular Mainstream Candy
3. Tacky Touristy Crap that you forgot to buy for your kids (they will love it!)
What is the Key to their Success?
Partnerships with airports is how Hudson News dominate.
Millions of travelers walk past a Hudson News while catching their flight. Airports need a store they can rely on to provide travelers with refreshments (and pay the rent), and Hudson News is willing to comply with all the airports regulations (and pay the rent).
Would the Hudson News business work if they were located in your local shopping mall? Nope – grocery stores and 7-11 are cheaper and way better.
Rishi, What is Your Point?
If you have multiple competitors think of valuable partnerships you can make. Sometimes it’s your partnerships that make you dominate – not your product.
The Future of Books Stores
Hudson News is the future of Book Stores. I have no idea how a stand alone Barnes and Nobles can survive. They are just way to big and expensive to run, also they don’t have enough traffic coming in anymore. Each Hudson News store on the other hand is run by only 1 person and has millions of people going through their stores daily.
Hudson News also only carries books they know will sell which results in more turn over.
>> Do you think Hudson News is the future of Book Stores? Let me know in the comments below.
PS One could argue that their key to success is surrounding the cashier in a mound of candy.
Unfortunately I agree – Hudson News is probably the future of books. Just like how Clear Channel is the future of radio. Stick with the top 20 and repeat.
Nice post. Depressing realization.
Hey Carl – Thanks for agreeing with me?
haha
Yeah, I would like more variety too but at the end of the day Hudson News and Clear Channel are creating a business to make money. Unfortunately the formula that works is less variety.
I’ve always wondered by hudson news shops are only in airports
and why no other competitors come in to take away business
Yeah – they have a total monopoly. Works out well for the airports. They don’t have to deal with 100’s of mom/pop shops
If Hudson News is the future of Book Stores – we are all doomed! People will be reading “People” magazine and only learning about who Brittany Spears slept with the night before.
You mean Britney…
I agree – we are all doomed. The only way to get exposure to indie books will be at libraries (if even those still exist) and online.
I work at a Barnes and Noble. I think every book store has it’s place. The airport is perfect for this type of book store. Mom and pop book stores still succeed in small towns and rural areas. I believe any new stores that we build will be smaller. But the stores we have now are doing very well. Borders was not willing to evolve with the market, and failed at online sells. They also did not make customer service and community relations an absolute must. We are large yes. But we are (or strive to be) a clean, well stocked store. Somewhere you can come and sit, have a cup of coffee, read with your child, attend a book club, use the internet for free, and yes hopefully buy a book. We will be around for future generations to come. I promise.
Hi Charli,
I really appreciate the comment. I wanted to know the inside scoop from BN employees. As long as BN has people like you that help the company keep evolving and figuring out what works they will continue to thrive.
Rishi