Let’s face it: Mondays are awful. There’s a reason why we say TGIF and not TGIM. And if you don’t hate Mondays, you’re either weird or need to take some Monday hatin’ lessons from my friend Garfield.
But hey, even Mondays have a few bright spots. (Emphasis on the word “few”.) For manga fans, Mondays meant a great deal. Barnes & Noble online would mark down select manga title for 50% off for one day only.
Notice the past tense.
I’m sure I’m not the only one whose Monday ritual was to visit this page.
Which I did on September 23rd. Didn’t order anything though. But by the next Monday, the 30th, Barnes & Noble had started a buy two get a third free offer on Kodansha Comics titles. During these sales, Manga Mondays are suspended, and the deal lasted until Tuesday, October 29th. But while I and others assumed that November 4th would mark the return of Manga Mondays, it was not to be. Weird, but maybe they were getting ready to start a VIZ Media or Yen Press version of the sale.
But this same screen appeared next Monday. And the next. And the next. Well, after two months’ worth of Mondays, you got to start to think that this “vacation” is a permanent one. At one time, it said it would return later in the fall. Okay, calendar-wise, it’s still technically fall, and it still is until December 21st. But most people consider all of December to be winter. Right now, it just says “on vacation”.
I guess it isn’t too surprising, unfortunately. Manga Mondays used to feature five titles a week when it was introduced in April 2012. But in October 2017, they cut it down to four.
In the past year — especially these last few months — coupons have become increasingly rare and small in discounts. Black Friday offered 10% off your online order, Cyber Monday 15%. Last year, they had 20% off $40+ on Black Friday, 25% off an in-store item, and 20% your entire order on Cyber Monday. A lot of the Manga Mania sales have changed from being biannual and included all publishers to rotating between the big three (VIZ Media, Kodansha Comics, Yen Press). People have complained that coupons in their recent mailers for being a Member (if they got one at all). I haven’t gotten an emailed coupon in years. I’m not exaggerating either. They dried up since they did a 10% off all books test in my area, which I talked about here.
I also talked about here that it was possible, if not likely, that Barnes & Noble would be cutting back on discounts. The new CEO, James Daunt, is credited with turning around UK bookstore chain Waterstones, and they aren’t big on promotional offers and discounts. (He also still serves as Managing Director at Waterstones.) Daunt decided not to put much money into holiday promotions outside of what was already planned, saving money instead for a “2020 chainwide store refurbishment”.
But perhaps some of his ideas are already going into effect. December 16th will be the end of the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Twitter account.
This account called it the “geeky sibling” of the normal Barnes & Noble Twitter account. It featured manga more frequently than @BNBuzz, and a lot of the manga mentions at @BNBuzz were promoting stuff from @BNSciFi.
You can see some of the replies to the announcements saying that the regular Barnes & Noble Twitter account features too much general content.
Maybe this doesn’t mean much. Maybe they’re going to keep the social media team on @BNSciFi and just move them over to @BNBuzz. Or maybe they don’t think they need to promote sci-fi as much. Who knows. Just know it’s probably disappointing to a number of manga fans. And it is a bizarre time to end it considering they’ve been trying to change up e-mails and social media to hook customers.
But that doesn’t compare if Manga Mondays end. On one hand, at least say so. People have tried to get an answer on social media, but Barnes & Noble is remaining silent. But if it’s only on vacation, then why not say “will return after the new year” or something?
Last year, the winter buy two manga get a third free deal for all publishers deal ran from mid December to mid January. So we probably won’t see Manga Mondays until mid-to-late January, because I don’t think they’d bring it back just to suspend it right away again.
But it’s also possible that Barnes & Noble could put another wrench or two into the manga sale schedule. Their recent Kodansha/Vertical sale was a buy two get a third down free, but the Yen Press sale in the summer required you to buy three to get a fourth free. Not nearly as good. Perhaps even if the weekly manga sale does continue, it won’t be until another long break between manga buy x get y free special? Or maybe if Manga Mondays return, it will feature fewer than four manga?
Which, of course, makes you wonder why they haven’t been having it in the first place. Is it because Daunt wants to end such promotions, ceasing the price wars to Amazon and Walmart? They need extra money this holiday season and are betting that people will be shopping for gifts anyway and will pay at or near list price? Both seem unlikely and/or risky, as the sales leading up to Thanksgiving and Black Friday were, according to Daunt’s own words, “terrible”. But is all of this trying to downplay the geeky side of Barnes & Noble and just return to a traditional image of a bookstore, with a focus on children’s books and novels so in the hopes you’ll become so addicted you won’t bother comparing prices?
My Membership unfortunately renewed in September, just before Manga Mondays were put on hold. My main reason for paying the $25 is to get free shipping during these weekly sales. If they end Manga Mondays, then I’m ending my Membership. I might do so anyway, as now you can order online and pick up in store when you couldn’t before. Plus, with the lack of coupons and my local store having a smaller-than-average selection, I really don’t have a reason to choose Barnes & Noble over anywhere else. Amazon often ends up matching the 50% off price anyway, so that is often an option as well.
I know I am not the average shopper, and Daunt’s strategy worked for Waterstones. But for genres like manga — or even sci-fi as a whole — whose readers tend to be very tech-savvy and accustomed to online shopping, will an improved store experience overcome the traditional American bargain-hunting mindset?
Who knows. We’ll just have to play the waiting game for now.