Its new CEO (who used to work at Toys ‘R’ Us and Best Buy) hopes he can save the struggling company by giving over shelf space to toys and gadgets. After losing customers to Amazon and hemorrhaging money into its Nook ebook division, the company wants to focus on things you can go into a store and touch, like art supplies and vinyl turntables. Or, as the CEO told The New York Times: “The macro trend is about physical interaction with things.”
The company closed over 70 stores in the last five years and posted a net loss of $27.2 million in the last quarter, but there has been one bright spot (aside from the new Adele album): sales of adult coloring books.