It's too bad, but places like B&N, Borders, and Books-a-Million haven't been able to get on the wagon with e-books or compete with the prices of Amazon. Unless they can start altering their business models, they're going to follow the CD industry (which is down more than 1/2 compared to only 3 years ago when it was already declining in favor of electronic stores).

Price is #1 here. When you can get the same exact thing on Amazon and get it shipped (1/2 the time for free) for less than the brick and mortar store sold it for...why go TO the store? Not to mention the fact that when you shop online, you can always find what you need and when you're IN the store, half the time they don't have it and have to order it. If you have to wait, why not get it online?

It's sort of like buying groceries online though. What you miss out on is the browsing. A random book you wouldn't have thought of doesn't catch your eye now. Little calendars, bookmarks, etc. And the "customers that bought this, also bought this...." doesn't quite fit the same. It works great of movies a lot of the time with surprising results, but books just aren't the same. But cost is the ultimate winner. People are willing to give up a lot for price.